Public communication by research institutes compared across countries and sciences: Building capacity for engagement or competing for visibility?

The pathology of hype, hyperbole and publication bias is creating an unwarranted concern towards biodegradable mulch films

The idea that it is a risk to promote biodegradable mulch films on a large scale is becoming established at academic level based on a series of articles similar in approach and conclusions. However, a critical analysis shows that the results do not justify the alarmist tones. The negative effects of hand-cut pieces of virgin material added in pots at concentrations up to 714 times the application doses are ascribed to the "accumulation" and "contamination" of "residues" and "debris" of biodegradable plastics. Yet, no accumulation and no contamination of biodegradable microplastics has actually been shown. No Predicted Environmental Concentration was established, thus the use of the term risk is inappropriate. The hypothesis of transient phytotoxicity of organic matter under decomposition i.e., an artificial outcome of the experimental scheme used, was not considered. A scrupulous approach to terminology is very important for the quality of communication and for the development of innovations. Scientific communication is a delicate process in which and to avoid hyperbole, there must be strict logical and lexical consistency between results and conclusions. Guidelines on the communication of the results of studies on biodegradable mulch must be developed to avoid the spread of unjustified concerns.

University central offices are moving away from doing towards facilitating science communication: A European cross-comparison

There is increasing interest in studying science communication from an institutional point of view. With much of the empirical research focusing on views of institutional actors on communication and their roles in the organisation, less attention has been paid to practices and dispositions of universities to communicate their research with publics. Universities have professionalised communication structures for external relations, and science communication has been absorbed in this. Yet, the evidence on what those practices represent for the university-at different levels of the organisation-is insufficient to understand the role of science communication within the university landscape. This study investigates science communication at central offices of research universities. Sampling whole populations of universities in four European countries (Germany, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom; 44% response rate), we disentangle practices of communication as a centralised function. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first cross-national study on this topic based on all universities within the surveyed countries. We compare general trends in science communication of universities across countries. The evidence shows that science communication is a secondary function at central offices of universities, strongly medialised, and points to a supporting role for central structures in facilitating science communication at other levels while moving away from doing it themselves. Universities might need to consider their long-term positioning in enhancing national science culture by fostering science communication through models of dialogue and public debate.

How institutional factors at US land-grant universities impact scientists' public scholarship

The call for public scholarship to emphasize the broader impacts of science has raised questions about how universities can support this work among their scientists. This study quantitatively assesses how institutional factors shape scientists' participation in public scholarship, a subset of public engagement focusing on scientists' involvement in public debate and democratic decision-making related to science policy. Based on a 2018 survey of scientists from 46 US land-grant universities (N = 6,242), hierarchical linear modeling results show that institutional factors, including tenure guidelines and the extent of government funding, play a minor role in influencing scientists' public scholarship participation. More importantly, scientists' perceptions of the university climate on support for engagement, including support from high-level administrators and for graduate students, are significant predictors of participation in public scholarship. Ultimately, these findings support the recommendation that universities should coordinate individual motivations with institutional missions to support a broader culture of public engagement.

Public Perception of COVID-19 Vaccination in Italy: The Role of Trust and Experts’ Communication

Objectives: Vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 throughout the world are not only a major organisational challenge, but also a communication and social challenge. Recent data from several countries show that a relevant proportion of citizens either do not plan to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or would rather postpone their vaccination. We argue that such attitudes are not the result of generalised scepticism about vaccination, nor of generalised distrust in science.

Methods: We analysed data from three survey waves on attitudes to vaccination against COVID-19 conducted in Italy in October 2020, January 2021, and May 2021 in the context of the Science in Society Monitor.

Results: Positive evaluations of experts’ communication and trust in their contribution—as well as in that of health institutions, local authorities, and healthcare workers—play a key role in understanding the willingness to be vaccinated.

Conclusion: Relevant implications can be drawn in terms of communication efforts and institutional strategies that are essential to build effective and inclusive vaccination campaigns.

The contexts of science journalism in the Brazilian Federal Institutes: characterizing realities and possibilities of communication products

A public teaching and research institution can also be recognized for its scientific projection in society, as well as for interfering directly or indirectly in social dynamics through science. In this sense, this study intends to analyze how science communication is inserted in the communication of Federal Institutes of Brazil, characterizing the contexts in which science journalism develops in these places and the possibilities of products for publicizing science. To this end, we conducted a case study with a mixed approach - qualitative and quantitative methods. Interviews were directed to communication managers (n = 2), research managers (n = 5), and research dean (n = 2). We also applied a questionnaire to journalists and communicators (n = 23), research managers (n = 11), student researchers (n = 52), and researcher supervisors (n = 156). The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed through thematic analysis. We also use inferential statistics for the questionnaires to compare the opinions and assessments of the groups, contextualizing the dissemination of science, as well as drawing perspectives for improvements and the creation of communication products. The main findings indicate that, for science journalism to develop, it is necessary to a) establish guidelines for the dissemination of science, b) recognize and prioritize research publications, c) plan the work of science journalism and create routines, d) improve communication flow, and e) create journalistic products and processes. From these actions, it may be possible improve communication between Brazilian Federal Institutes and society through science.

Publicação de videoartigos como estratégia para impulsionar o consumo de Ciência

Resumo As novas tecnologias promoveram mudanças importantes nas relações sociais nos últimos anos, as quais estimularam o crescimento da produção de conteúdo científico em formato audiovisual, com destaque para os videoartigos. Assim, este artigo examina a aplicabilidade das novas tendências de publicações audiovisuais como estratégia para impulsionar o consumo de ciência dentro e fora do ecossistema acadêmico. Baseado em um survey exploratório-descritivo realizado com pesquisadores das áreas de Ciências da Saúde e Ciências Humanas, o estudo contribui para mitigar a carência de evidências empíricas, especificamente, sobre quatro pontos: visão de pesquisadores brasileiros acerca do acesso livre e consumo de ciência no Brasil; desconhecimento sobre videoartigo como formato de comunicação científica; grau de interesse em publicações científicas em formato audiovisual; e sentimentos relacionados à visibilidade e ao reconhecimento da ciência no Brasil. Resultados evidenciam o potencial estratégico dos recursos audiovisuais na valorização da comunicação científica, visto que pesquisadores se mostram interessados em publicar videoartigos pelo impacto direto em visibilidade, métricas de desempenho e disseminação da cultura científica com vistas a aumentar o consumo de ciência.

Perceptions, relationships, expectations, and challenges: Views of communication and research for scientific dissemination in Brazilian Federal Institutes

Communicating Brazilian science still seems to be a challenge for journalists and researchers of public institutions of education and science. In this sense, this research aims to identify and analyze scientists’ perceptions regarding the work of journalists, the relationship between these groups, the expectations, and the challenges of science communication in two Federal Institutes of Education in Brazil. We conducted a mixed study in the qualitative stage with the participation of 30 interviewees, and in the quantitative stage, journalists and researchers answered a questionnaire (n = 242). Our results indicated that the work of science communication is not carried out properly in both Institutes and that there is a lack of articulated work among both journalists, communicators, and researchers. The relationship between these groups needs to be built jointly. In this respect, the biggest challenges are to institutionalize science communication, establish a science communication plan, and overcome internal relationship barriers. Our results may underpin science communication policies and policies for scientific dissemination both institutional or even national levels.

Fostering Social Project Impact with Twitter: Current Usage and Perspectives

Social impact assessment has become a major concern within the research community. While different methodological advancements have been made to better display, as well as to measure, achieved impacts, social media has proved to be a potential domain to generate many new opportunities to support both the communication as well as the realization of social impact. Within this context, the current research presents an analysis of how Twitter is used among a subset of research projects to maximize social impact. The research focuses on the use of Twitter, as one of the most often used social media, by the members of scientific projects funded under one part of the FP7 funding framework of the European Union called Science in Society. The data were analyzed using NVivo, and WordStat Provalis software. The results presented in this study include exploratory data analysis, topic mining and the analysis of the impact of projects on Twitter. The results indicate moderate use of Twitter among the observed projects, but with a strong focus on the dissemination of project results, thus indicating a trend towards the usage of social media for communicating the social impact of research projects.