A search can be written in any language, whether it is typed directly or run by the AI, and it is compared with publications in every language. Keenious holds 181 million publications written in 174 languages, and around 40 million of them are not in English. A search that only worked in English would not reach those 40 million.
What comes back
Publications written in the language of the search are ranked higher, so most results are in that language. When less has been published on the topic in that language, the rest of the results come from other languages, and usually that means English. How much of a result set stays in the language of the search depends on how much has been published in it, which varies a great deal from topic to topic.
A search written in English is the exception. There is enough English research on almost any subject to fill a result set, so an English search returns English publications even on subjects with a large literature in another language.
The same topic searched in five languages, and the language each of the 100 results was written in
Seeing research in another language
The Language filter sets which languages the results are in, and it covers 99 languages. It works in both directions: a search in Norwegian with the filter set to English returns the English publications on the topic of the search, and a search in English with the filter set to Norwegian returns the Norwegian ones.
How a search in one language finds another
Keenious compares the search with publications in two ways at the same time. Comparison by meaning does not depend on language, so a Norwegian publication and an English one about the same subject are treated as being about the same thing, and a search in either language finds both. Comparison by the words in the search only works within one language, because Norwegian words do not appear in an English text. Meaning is what carries a search from one language into another. Both ways of comparing are described in How Search Works in Keenious.
A search in Norwegian, with the publications that sit closest to it in meaning
Languages in Keenious
English is much larger than every other language in the index.
Language | Publications |
English | 140.9 million |
Spanish | 7.7 million |
French | 5.5 million |
German | 4.3 million |
Portuguese | 3.7 million |
Indonesian | 2.6 million |
Chinese | 2.4 million |
Russian | 2.1 million |
Japanese | 1.8 million |
Korean | 1.8 million |
Eleven languages have more than a million publications each, and the smallest have only a handful. How publications are chosen is described in How Keenious Curates Its Index.
Limits
One language for each publication. Each publication is listed under one language only, taken from its title and abstract. If the title and the abstract are in different languages, the one that is not English is used, so a publication with an English title and a Spanish abstract is listed as Spanish.
Research areas are named in English. Results are grouped into research areas, and those names are always in English, even when the publications are not.
The language is found automatically, so it is sometimes wrong. Short titles and text that mixes two languages are the usual reasons. A publication listed under the wrong language is filtered and ranked as that language.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to search in my own language or in English?
The two reach different research rather than the same research ranked differently, so it depends which one is wanted. Searching the same topic both ways is how to see both.
If I search in my own language, am I missing the English research?
Some of it, because a result set filled with one language has less room for the rest. Running the same search with the Language filter set to English brings it into view.
Will a quoted phrase still find research in other languages?
No. Quoted phrases and AND are matched word for word, and words do not cross languages, so a quoted Norwegian phrase only ever matches Norwegian text. Leaving the phrase unquoted keeps the search open to other languages.
Which languages can the filter be set to?
99 of the 174 languages in the index, covering all the larger ones. A language that is not on the list can still be searched in, and the ranking still favours publications written in it.