Podcasts have become an established part of university communications and public engagement activities. Reflecting on the development of the medium and the creation of the ‘Isolation Pod’ podcast during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, Mark Carri…
Category: Academic communication
The responsibility of intellectuals in times of war
War is a quintessentially social phenomenon that has provoked thinkers throughout history. Reflecting on the recent events in Ukraine and the history of realist thought on war, Paul Kelly, discusses intellectual responses to war and the inter-relations…
In legislating for freedom of speech on university campuses, whose opinions will the government protect?
The Higher Education and Freedom of Speech Bill is currently moving through the committee stage in Parliament. In this post, Conor Gearty reflects on previous attempts to regulate free speech in universities and highlights potential unintended conseque…
9 tips for effective collaborations between journalists and academic researchers
In this cross-post, Clark Merrefield discusses the collaborative work of reporter Rachel Dissell and academic Professor Rachel Lovell and draws out nine insights for how journalists and academics can work effectively together. In 2013, Timothy McGinty…
To communicate scientific research, we need to confront motivated ignorance
The idea that ignorance is the outcome of a deficit of correct information is persistent, especially for academics working in an environment where learning and the acquisition of new knowledge are highly valued. Daniel Williams argues that to understand how research and evidence are strongly resisted by certain groups, we need to reflect on how … Continued
The Rule of Truth: How fallacies can help stem the COVID-19 infodemic
Alongside COVID-19 as a viral pandemic, the World Health Organization was quick to declare COVID-19 an infodemic, a superabundance of online and offline information with the potential to undermine public health efforts. Here, Dr. Elinor Carmi, Dr. Myrto Aloumpi and Dr. Elena Musi discuss how philosophical fallacies can be instrumentalised in response to the COVID-19 … Continued
Pitching your book in the COVID age: can academics stay relevant when the world is falling apart?
A pandemic has transformed the academic publishing industry. The way that books are commissioned and promoted has changed. So has what it takes to make a book relevant. In this post, publishing professional Katie Stileman outlines what angle and pitching strategies academics should consider, as they market their research in the COVID climate. This is … Continued
8 common problems with literature reviews and how to fix them
Literature reviews are an integral part of the process and communication of scientific research. Whilst systematic reviews have become regarded as the highest standard of evidence synthesis, many literature reviews fall short of these standards and may end up presenting biased or incorrect conclusions. In this post, Neal Haddaway highlights 8 common problems with literature … Continued
Researchers are expected to share their research beyond academia but they need support from universities to do so
Sharing research beyond academia is not only rewarding and enriching, but increasingly can help achieve funding. However, early career researchers lack the time, skills and media savvy to do so. Margaret Merga and Shannon Mason outline the experiences of early career researchers in Australia and Japan. The authors urge institutions to look beyond traditional scholarly … Continued
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the way we conduct and share research. Let’s not return to business as usual when the pandemic is over!
COVID-19 has led to rapid and open sharing of research outputs. But will this new, radically open research communications paradigm result in permanent change? Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) executive board members, Kathleen Shearer, Eloy Rodrigues, Bianca Amaro, Wolfram Horstmann, William Nixon, Daisy Selematsela, Martha Whitehead and Kazu Yamaji, argue that the new research … Continued