scholarly journals UK science press officers, professional vision and the generation of expectations

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Samuel ◽  
Clare Williams ◽  
John Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Professional Vision ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Integral Role

Science press officers can play an integral role in helping promote expectations and hype about biomedical research. Using this as a starting point, this article draws on interviews with 10 UK-based science press officers, which explored how they view their role as science reporters and as generators of expectations. Using Goodwin’s notion of ‘professional vision’, we argue that science press officers have a specific professional vision that shapes how they produce biomedical press releases, engage in promotion of biomedical research and make sense of hype. We discuss how these insights can contribute to the sociology of expectations, as well as inform responsible science communication.

scholarly journals Understanding the Problem of “Hype”: Exaggeration, Values, and Trust in Science

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kristen Intemann
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Value Judgments

Abstract Several science studies scholars report instances of scientific “hype,” or sensationalized exaggeration, in journal articles, institutional press releases, and science journalism in a variety of fields (e.g., Caulfield and Condit 2012). Yet, how “hype” is being conceived varies. I will argue that hype is best understood as a particular kind of exaggeration, one that explicitly or implicitly exaggerates various positive aspects of science in ways that undermine the goals of science communication in a particular context. This account also makes clear the ways that value judgments play a role in judgments of “hype,” which has implications for detecting and addressing this problem.

scholarly journals Reflections on dynamic consent in biomedical research: the story so far

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet J. A. Teare ◽  
Megan Prictor ◽  
Jane Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Future Research ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Dynamic Consent ◽  
Integral Role ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
And Control

AbstractDynamic consent (DC) was originally developed in response to challenges to the informed consent process presented by participants agreeing to ‘future research’ in biobanking. In the past 12 years, it has been trialled in a number of different projects, and examined as a new approach for consent and to support patient engagement over time. There have been significant societal shifts during this time, namely in our reliance on digital tools and the use of social media, as well as a greater appreciation of the integral role of patients in biomedical research. This paper reflects on the development of DC to understand its importance in an age where digital health is becoming the norm and patients require greater oversight and control of how their data may be used in a range of settings. As well as looking back, it looks forwards to consider how DC could be further utilised to enhance the patient experience and address some of the inequalities caused by the digital divide in society.

scholarly journals Activists as “alternative” science communicators — Exploring the facets of science communication in societal contexts

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (06) ◽  
pp. C01
Author(s):  
Birte Faehnrich ◽  
Michelle Riedlinger ◽  
Emma Weitkamp
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Economic Decision ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Impact

For many decades, NGOs and social movements have acted as “alternative” science communicators. They have made strategic use of science to promote their ideological stances, to influence political and/or economic decision-making and to motivate civic action. To date, however, our understanding of science communication in activism has received little critical attention. This set of commentaries acts as a starting point for further research and reflection. The different cases and perspectives urge readers to consider the impact, democratic legitimacy, and relevance of alternative science communication, and the challenges that alternative science communicators pose for science communication and society.

scholarly journals Press releases — the new trend in science communication

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. C02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Autzen
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Press Release ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
The Press ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Media ◽  
The University

Scientific institutions have for a long time known the importance of framing and owning stories about science They also know the effective way of communicating science in a press release This is part of the institution’s public relations. Enhanced competition among research institutions has led to a buildup of communicative competences and professionalization of public relations inside the institutions and the press release has become an integrated part of science communication from these institutions. Changing working conditions in the media, where fewer people have to publish more, have made press releases from trustworthy scientific institutions into free and easily copied content for the editors. In this commentary I investigate and discuss the communicative ecosystem of the university press release. I especially take a close look at the role of the critical and independent science journalist in relation to this corporate controlled communication

scholarly journals Public involvement in the governance of population-level biomedical research: unresolved questions and future directions

2020 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106530
Author(s):  
Sonja Erikainen ◽  
Phoebe Friesen ◽  
Leah Rand ◽  
Karin Jongsma ◽  
Michael Dunn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Research Governance ◽  
Collective Models ◽  
Stakeholder Interests ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Governance Challenges ◽  
The Individual

Population-level biomedical research offers new opportunities to improve population health, but also raises new challenges to traditional systems of research governance and ethical oversight. Partly in response to these challenges, various models of public involvement in research are being introduced. Yet, the ways in which public involvement should meet governance challenges are not well understood. We conducted a qualitative study with 36 experts and stakeholders using the World Café method to identify key governance challenges and explore how public involvement can meet these challenges. This brief report discusses four cross-cutting themes from the study: the need to move beyond individual consent; issues in benefit and data sharing; the challenge of delineating and understanding publics; and the goal of clarifying justifications for public involvement. The report aims to provide a starting point for making sense of the relationship between public involvement and the governance of population-level biomedical research, showing connections, potential solutions and issues arising at their intersection. We suggest that, in population-level biomedical research, there is a pressing need for a shift away from conventional governance frameworks focused on the individual and towards a focus on collectives, as well as to foreground ethical issues around social justice and develop ways to address cultural diversity, value pluralism and competing stakeholder interests. There are many unresolved questions around how this shift could be realised, but these unresolved questions should form the basis for developing justificatory accounts and frameworks for suitable collective models of public involvement in population-level biomedical research governance.

Mutable Matter: Using Sensory Methods in Public Engagement with Nanotechnology

Leonardo ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Last
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Future

Mutable Matter is an experimental public engagement pilot program that seeks to enable non-scientists to explore and co-imagine the future of nanotechnology. Located at the intersection of geography, science communication and art practice, Mutable Matter is intended as a starting point for examining playful sensory engagement methods bridging tangible public and intangible scientific spaces. The project both challenges the role of non-scientists as mere commentators on pre-decided innovation trajectories and draws attention to the way scientific information is creatively encountered in the public realm.

scholarly journals Contribución de la comunicación institucional de la investigación a su impacto y visibilidad. Caso de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco-Javier Alonso-Flores ◽  
Daniela De-Filippo ◽  
Antonio-Eleazar Serrano-López ◽  
Carolina Moreno-Castro
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Carlos Iii ◽  
Medios De Comunicacion ◽  
Journal Impact

Institutional offices for the communication and dissemination of science are gaining in importance at Spanish universities, and their activities can contribute to increasing the visibility and reputation of researchers. The objective of this study is to analyze the relations between the institutional communication of research results to the public and the impact and academic visibility of scientific papers. For this purpose, science communication and dissemination undertaken through press releases on R+D+i results from the Science Culture and Innovation Unit (SCIU) at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) were selected as a case study. This SCIU was chosen because it has published yearly reports for more than a decade on the impact in the media of its press releases. Press dossiers of the last five years available (2014-2018) were examined, and a database was created of the citations received by texts published in scientific journals indexed in the Web of Science as well as their mentions on social networks through the company Altmetric.com. After that, this information was statistically analyzed. The main results show that the journal impact index is important for obtaining academic citations or appearing in Twitter conversations. However, the influence of the journal impact factor turns out to be lower when it comes to popularizing scientific publications in the media. Furthermore, the statistical evidence points to the fact that scientific publications disseminated through the SCIU receive proportionally more citations than research that has not been disseminated through the institutional channel. Resumen Las oficinas de comunicación y divulgación pública de la ciencia están ganando importancia en las universidades españolas y las actividades que realizan pueden contribuir al incremento de la visibilidad y reputación del personal de investigación. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar las relaciones entre la comunicación institucional pública de los resultados de investigación y el impacto y visibilidad académica de las publicaciones científicas. Para ello, se ha seleccionado como estudio de caso la comunicación y diseminación que realiza la Unidad de Cultura Científica y de Innovación (UCC+i) de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Se ha escogido esta UCC+i porque publica anualmente, desde hace más de una década, informes sobre el impacto que generan en medios de comunicación las notas de prensa que difunden. Se han examinado los dosieres de los últimos cinco años (2014-2018) y se ha creado una base de datos que incluye las citas recibidas por los documentos difundidos en revistas científicas indexadas en la Web of Science y las menciones en redes sociales utilizando Altmetric.com. Posteriormente se ha realizado un análisis estadístico de la información obtenida. Los principales resultados muestran que el factor de impacto de las revistas es importante para conseguir citaciones académicas o para figurar en la conversación que se genera en Twitter. Sin embargo, la influencia del factor de impacto de la revista resulta menor a la hora de conseguir que la publicación científica obtenga popularidad en medios de comunicación. Además, las pruebas estadísticas muestran que las publicaciones científicas divulgadas a través de la UCC+i obtienen proporcionalmente más citas que las que no han sido divulgados por vía institucional.

scholarly journals Science communication in online media: influence of press releases on coverage of genetics and CRISPR

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafał Grochala
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Leading Journals

AbstractNew scientific discoveries are communicated through multiple channels. Publications remain essential for scientists, whereas general public relies on news articles. Numerous studies investigated the path from publications to news and identified press releases as the key factor, associating them with issues such as exaggerations, but less is known about the direct influence of press releases on subject choice or on the content of media reports. Here, a cross-sectional sample of publications related to genetics and CRISPR is assessed in three independent datasets (n = 1362 publications, n = 461 press releases). Analysis finds 92.5% (CI = 88.5-96.5) dependence of news outlets on press releases in terms of topic choice and 39-43% explicit use of passages from press releases. Publications without press releases are described by 74x fewer news outlets. Even if they come from leading journals or universities, lack of a press release leads to 8.8x less coverage. Given the high impact of press releases, their reliability is especially relevant, but the majority of them omits interest disclosures - 84.3% (CI = 80.8-87.7) of press releases did not mention existing conflicts of interest, including multiple patent applications. These results establish the major indirect and direct role of press releases in science communication via online media. In line with previous research, this dependency raises concerns about possible distortions of science coverage.

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