Last year, The Economist proclaimed the podcast had come of age. It’s never been easier to create, edit, and upload a podcast and an increasing number of academics are using it to showcase and share their research. Christine Garrington explains why podcasting is such a powerful and impactful tool for researchers, and also offers some pointers to those looking to start their […]
Category: research communication
Want to ensure your research influences policy? Advice from a government insider
Among the ways social sciences research can have impact is by influencing public policy. Duncan Green recently attended an event at which this subject was much discussed, with a leading government research analyst offering clear advice on what officials are looking for. Comparative work highlighting a range of possible solutions is valued, as are multidisciplinary approaches. Most useful is demonstrating […]
Scientist Selfies – Instagramming to change public perceptions of scientists
Scientists have an image problem. Women and minorities are often told they don’t “look like scientists” as stubborn stereotypes depict scientists as white, male, and more competent than warm. Instagram, with its huge and growing community of users and obvious capacity to relate human interest stories, represents a great opportunity to address this problem. Paige Jarreau and Samantha Yammine introduce […]
Philosophy communication is a two-way street: we learn from our publics, rather than simply teaching them
While science communication has become a well-recognised part of scientific praxis in many other disciplines, philosophy communication remains some way behind. However, as Patrick Stokes explains, this is noticeably changing. Firstly, philosophers more often translate their academic research for the public, acting as a conduit between the scholarly literature and the wider community. But there is also a second, more […]
Leading research institutions should not be allowed to get away with bad writing
Paul Romer, chief economist at the World Bank, was recently sidelined after encouraging his researchers to communicate more clearly, even going as far as imposing a limit on their use of the word “and”. Caroline Cassidy defends Romer’s intentions and argues that strong communication is of critical importance to using research to find solutions to the world’s problems, even more […]
Gained in translation: adding value to research to inform policy
Within the social sciences, translating and sharing new knowledge is now common practice amongst many researchers and institutions across academia. From evidence briefings and summaries of literature to online blogs and presentations, a wide range of research evidence aims to engage policy and practitioner audiences so they can more easily access and use the evidence. Raj Patel questions whether it […]
How do LSE blogs impact the academic sphere? Blogs as citable items in scholarly publications
In the third of a series of posts on the Impact of LSE Blogs project, Carlos Arrebola takes a closer look at the increasing frequency with which LSE blog posts are being cited in scholarly publications. The Impact Blog has been cited most often, perhaps reflecting its authors’ readiness to draw on non-traditional scholarly outputs. Unsurprisingly, a majority of citations come from […]
How do LSE Blogs impact the academic sphere? Exploring the effects of blogging on published research
In the second of a series of posts on the Impact of LSE Blogs project, Carlos Arrebola and Amy Mollett share the first findings of an LSE study that sought to examine the effects of blogging on the success of published articles. While the study proved to be more exploratory than explanatory, with the positive effects on citations particularly difficult […]
Introducing the Impact of LSE Blogs project!
Since launching in 2010, more than 2000 contributors have written for LSE’s public-facing academic blogs, reaching an ever-expanding, international audience. But how do we measure the impact of this particular form of research communication? In the first of a short series of posts, Carlos Arrebola and Amy Mollett introduce the Impact of LSE Blogs project. As well as following the progress […]
Science communication and social media: from iconic NASA moon landings to Instagramming astronauts
As part of a series previewing their new book, Communicating Your Research with Social Media, Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley, Chris Gilson and Sierra Williams give an overview of how NASA has risen to the challenge of communicating its findings, resources and achievements to the world through social media. Science communication has evolved into an essential part of the public outreach and education […]