Blogs have evolved into an established academic genre and a valuable forum for alternative journalism and public education. Manu Saunders draws a distinction between science communication blogs and science community blogs, with the latter offering academics the opportunity to strengthen writing skills and develop new collaborations, while also being a source of advice and mentorship for students, women, and other […]
Category: science communication
Test your research impact muscles! Are researchers getting the support required to realise the potential impact of their work?
Knowledge and awareness of research impact-related concepts and terminology varies greatly among researchers around the world. To help researchers test their “research impact muscles” and see how they compare to their peers, Kudos have developed a circus-themed quiz! Lauren McNeill explains how this quick, light-hearted quiz will help researchers increase their understanding of how to maximise the likelihood of their […]
What 10 years of producing podcasts with social scientists has taught me
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 […]
Rebranding science so it is seen by all people as a fundamental and inclusive part of our society
More than any other area of society, science is seen as the exclusive preserve of experts and professionals, not something the wider community is able to interact and engage with. Katherine Mathieson suggests it is time to challenge stereotypes in science; to support, grow and diversify the community of people who are interested and involved in it, and strengthen their […]
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 […]
Talking About Data: Lessons from Science Communication
As a person who worked for years in psychology and neuroscience laboratories before coming to work in academic libraries, I have particularly strong feelings about ambiguous definitions. One of my favorite anecdotes about my first year of graduate school involves watching two researchers argue about the definition of “attention” for several hours, multiple times a … … Continue reading →
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 […]
Artificial intelligence can expedite scientific communication and eradicate bias from the publishing process
Scientific publishing already uses some early artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to address certain issues with the peer review process, such as identifying new reviewers or fighting plagiarism. As part of a BioMed Central/Digital Science report on the future of peer review, Chadwick C. DeVoss outlines what other innovations AI might facilitate. Software with the capability to complete subject-oriented reviews of […]
Impact Round Up 24 November: Scientific closures, responsible sharing and how to evaluate scientific claims.
Managing Editor Sierra Williams presents a round up of popular stories from around the web on higher education, academic impact, and trends in scholarly communication. From top-down government mandates to the day-to-day process of sharing one’s research, open access continues to be an … Continue reading →