science communication writing article

How can the situation be improved in practice? Using loaded language may invite such media coverage by giving the impression that the inclusion of an opposing view is needed for a well-balanced story. Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer is Director of Communications and Science Outreach for Ciencia Puerto Rico, a global community of scientists, students, educators and allies who believe that science can empower individuals with the knowledge, capacity and agency to improve their lives and society. You can find her on Twitter @moefeliu. They are, in this sense, performative—meaning that they lead to actual outcomes in the world. Hobbs RJ Higgs ES Hall CM, Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. An area of STEM that you enjoy or are interested in. It weakens creativity and threatens our ability to foresee unknown problems and risks (“unknown unknowns”), and it also excludes members of society who do not share the implicit values of the dominant narrative, which can lead to public opposition and controversy (Marris C and Rose 2012). You'll still be the author, but the Science Communication Editor will be on hand to provide any support you need, as you go along. Such a tunneling of our intellectual engagement with an emerging topic is problematic for a number of reasons. © 2020 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc. Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. Once you've written your article, it will be passed to our copy-editing team and should appear on our website the following month. Why is it important? In these instances, incipient knowledge can be used to substantiate multiple conflicting views on an issue, thereby contributing to policy impasses (Sarewitz 2004, Kahan et al. For instance, focused communication campaigns rely on audience studies that are intended to clarify the implications of particular value-laden metaphors for communication, such as those that the National Academy of Sciences has used for communication about evolution (Nisbet 2009). Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at, , an organization dedicated to improving science communication, Project Superhero: Using Pop Culture to Inspire Kids’ Interest in Science, How Designers Can Improve Health Care For Everyone, Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter, Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers, #GradSciComm: How COMPASS is Answering the National Demand for Science Communication Training, Building Buzz: (Scientists) Communicating Science in New Media Environments, Practical Science Communication Strategies for Graduate Students, Successful Science Communication: A Case Study. This realization does not devalue effective science communication but, instead, places it in a more appropriate context, as part of a broader suite of engagement with the public about the production and use of scientific knowledge. We thank Brigitte Nerlich, Erle Ellis, Franziska Humair, Juanita Schlaepfer-Miller, and several anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article. Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. In this article, we map out a process for more inclusive science communication grounded in the practices of environmental justice (EJ), with a specific focus on communication of the environmental sciences. Participatory processes can help increase democratic deliberation about metaphors in research in order to legitimize their use and to ameliorate their outcomes for science and society. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has, for instance, recently listed the giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) as one of the world's 100 worst invasive species and reported this in Nature in a letter entitled “Alien species: Monster fern makes IUCN invader list” (Courchamp 2013). It also allows them to be better teachers and mentors for next-generation scientists. They are, in this sense, performative—meaning that they lead to actual outcomes in the world. 2012). They report on a recent event or STEM breakthrough, and how this will help advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Discover world-changing science. Science communicators are important in keeping science in the public eye. Scientists must give talks, write papers and proposals, communicate with a variety of audiences, and educate others. Scientists are equally concerned that the interpretations and limitations of their science are presented in a correct and evidence-based way. Clarifying debates in invasion biology: A survey of invasion biologists, Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order. As Richard Dawkins reminds us in ‘Unweaving the Rainbow’, understanding the origin of the colours of the rainbow does not take away from its beauty or the awe it inspires. Or, perhaps you know another young person who is using STEM to achieve one or more of the SDGs - there’s no age limit to who you can interview! We can’t expect all scientists to use Twitter, participate in their local school’s career day or blog, but a little bit of effort goes a long way. Blogs are fairly short articles, and usually reflect on a personal experience, or outline a topic of interest. Although public communication may seem very different from scholarly communication of science, the principles and strategies that make messaging effective in each arena are very similar. Some conservationists fear that these terms could endorse human domination of the planet (Crist 2013) and could exacerbate the shifting cognitive baseline whereby humans tend to become accustomed to new and often degraded ecosystems and thus forget the nature of the past (Caro et al. it is a News article, or celebrates a specific day, such as World Water Day, or LGBT+ month) then the regular submissions process may not suit your needs. Humanities education for modern biologists. Racially loaded metaphors in scientific research, Once upon a time, there was a dying forest, Understanding misunderstandings in invasion science: Why experts don't agree on common concepts and risk assessments, The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks, Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines. Therefore, we also propose procedural guidelines and training for scientists, science journalists, and the editors of scientific journals to work collaboratively to report scientific results using frames and metaphors that speak to diverse experts and stakeholders (box 2). You'll then have 2 weeks to write your article. Increasingly, they are becoming part of the core professional skills every science student and professional should have. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide, This PDF is available to Subscribers Only. Or they might use a metaphor to explain the underlying science rather than to express an opinion—for example, by calling this aquatic fern that rapidly proliferates in water polluted by nutrients a gourmand fern. This puts a great burden of responsibility on science communication, so media coverage of scientific findings is rightly expected to follow strict guidelines of good practice and ethical behavior. Collaboration between scientists and journalists. 2009, Groffman et al. 2010, Larson 2011, Kahan et al. No matter what area of science communication you end up in, you will have to write. Accordingly, a narrow choice of metaphorical tools can restrict the diversity of research approaches and creative thinking, especially at emerging research frontiers (Larson 2009). Another problem with promotional communication by scientists is that they are seldom trained in how to appropriately or effectively communicate. 2009, Larson 2011, Kuchner 2012, Nelder 2013), because there is growing competition for funding, public attention, and the ability to influence decisionmaking (e.g., Fischer et al. The same rules that apply to everyday life concerning socially acceptable language also apply to science. Interviews can be undertaken either in person, by email or by video call. Optimizing friction between alternative genomic metaphors: How much plurality is enough? Decisionmaking in our time depends on reliable scientific evidence, so neglecting or misinterpreting such evidence may impair decisionmaking. Evolving models of science communication incorporate citizens much earlier in the process, even insofar as designing a research program itself (Bubela et al. Science Communication Articles have a more flexible writing style - depending on the type of article you want to write! Scientists must give talks, write papers and proposals, communicate with a variety of audiences, and educate others. You always need to know who you are trying to reach, as it affects everything else you do. She is also Associate Director of Diversity and Communication Training for iBiology, a nonprofit organization that produces and distributes free online videos about research, the process of science and professional development, featuring the world's leading biologists. When a metaphor is used, it should be introduced as such, and its connection with specific aspects of a scientific concept should be illustrated. It is the responsibility of scientists to understand the historical, cultural, and normative connotations of key terms and concepts that they use (see our discussion of invasive species above). It can also make science accessible to audiences that traditionally have been excluded from the process of science. Get in contact if you need any help with this! For instance, scientists can get bogged down with the specifics of a research question or use too much jargon to explain a concept. Similar examples can be given for other biological research fields, such as health (e.g., Sontag 1989) or neuroscience (e.g., Slaney and Maraun 2005). This view is known as the deficit model of the public understanding of science, and it has been discounted for numerous reasons, not least that knowledge is only one element of how people come to decisions. Why Is Puerto Rico Dismantling Its Institute of Statistics? At least in longer texts, authors should explicitly reflect on the connotations and performativity of their chosen metaphors. Criteria for assessing the appropriateness of metaphors for science communication. Close and continuous interaction between scientists and journalists is needed in the formulation of news stories, not only to get the facts right but also to ensure that the stories are well balanced, honest, and compelling to a culturally diverse audience. Therefore, closer collaborations between scientists and humanists are essential (Sörlin 2012, Forêt et al. There are many other prominent metaphors in biology that have gained disproportionate importance and that shape both research and social outcomes (see Larson 2011 for a review). Although having more scientists who are effective communicators benefits science and society greatly, there are still relatively few training opportunities for science students and professionals to develop these skills. The problem here is not so much that a metaphor is wrong but that it is misleading: It encourages the interpretation of a partial view as the whole truth or the attribution of too much importance to the view provided by one metaphor as opposed to the different insights provided by a plurality of them. These metaphors can originate through interactions with people of diverse backgrounds (both scientific and nonscientific). 2010), and metaphors are often used to help readers connect to scientific results. Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability: Redefining our Relationship with Nature, Managing invasive species amidst high uncertainty and novelty, Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, Promotional metaphors and their popular appeal, Communicating Biological Sciences: Ethical and Metaphorical Dimensions, Theory and language of climate change communication, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, Gap between science and media revisited: Scientists as public communicators, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics, Why machine-information metaphors are bad for science and science education, Ecosystem services and beyond: Using multiple metaphors to understand human-environment relationships, Thinking through the environment, unsettling the humanities, How science makes environmental controversies worse, The potential conservation value of non-native species, Analogy and metaphor running amok: An examination of the use of explanatory devices in neuroscience, Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, Dangerous news: Media decision making about climate change risk. Public communication encourages scientists to find simple, more succinct ways to get the essentials of their message across. Thus to be successful, regardless of field or career path, scientists must learn how to communicate. For example, know your audience. See, for example, this list of training opportunities compiled by COMPASS, an organization dedicated to improving science communication. However, knowledge is often uncertain or incomplete. To this end, graduate students in biology should take courses on the broader social and cultural context of scientific research, including science communication and the science–policy interface (Sörlin 2012, Forêt et al. By teaching scientists how to explain their work simply—and more effectively—public communication increases the impact of science in multiple dimensions. Biologists increasingly use marketing strategies to promote their results, obtain funding, and influence decisionmakers, but this development can compromise public perceptions of their objectivity and prevent the effective communication of reliable scientific knowledge. As experts, scientists have a deep knowledge of particular subjects. Environmental humanities: Why should biologists interested in the environment take the humanities seriously? We consider this choice of words to be undesirable, because it merely expresses a value judgment of the authors (i.e., that the species is like a monster because it is bad) rather than illustrating the science. Many science communication training programs and courses for scientists use the public communication of science as a tool to develop effective communication skills. The metaphor of ecosystem services, for example, currently dominates ecological research on human–
environment relationships, thereby reinforcing a perspective from economic production that emphasizes the direct benefits that ecosystems provide to humans while neglecting alternative conceptions that are focused on stewardship and moral duty, long-term sustainability, and the cultural values of ecosystems (Raymond et al. For instance, scientific and popular articles about research in synthetic biology often build on metaphors taken from the worlds of machines, computers, or consumerism (Cserer and Seiringer 2009, Keller 2009, Hellsten and Nerlich 2011). 2009, Kahan 2010, Kahan et al. “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough,” Albert Einstein said. At each deadline, we review all the submission and pair each successful author with a Science Communication Editor - this allows us to work together to make your article the best it can be. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. Communicating science as a career is all about inspiring those moments of wonder, from the eye-widening and jaw-dropping ones to the quieter, slow-burning variety. But this is not really about choosing between two options: It is, instead, a complex and ambiguous question that touches on fundamental worldviews. © 2020 Youth STEM 2030 CICYouth STEM 2030 is a registered Community Interest Company (SC652132) and is limited by guarantee, with its registered office at 272 Bath Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G2 4JR. However, this is often seen as an unimportant efforts when compared to publishing articles and attending conferences, and therefore engaging in these efforts can be isolating. Scientific metaphors can, nonetheless, be interpreted in terms of their factual content, and, in this respect, they can be considered wrong. Invasive species and climate change scientists still tend to resort to fear-based language about negative impacts of nonnative species or climate disasters, even though there is evidence that such language is ineffective or even counterproductive (Nerlich et al. Recently, new terms such as novel ecosystem and Anthropocene have gained prominence in biodiversity conservation to denote the dominant role of humans in nature. We certainly do not suggest that scientists can or should abandon metaphorical and engaging language in science communication. Conversely, a major concern for scientists is that journalists tend to portray a scientifically undisputed case—such as the anthropogenic causes of climate change—as an unresolved issue by giving unjustified space to extremists’ views (e.g., Boykoff and Boykoff 2004). It should, therefore, be seen as an issue requiring the engagement of the whole conservation community (Kueffer and Kaiser-Bunbury 2014). We focus on metaphors here because they are linguistic choices that have been shown to shape the thinking of scientists and, therefore, the direction of research fields (Keller 2002, Brown 2003, Larson 2011). In short, the monster metaphor implies an absolute value judgment, which may undermine the public's perception of science as a critical and balanced form of inquiry and, ultimately, their trust in it. Interactions between scientists and stakeholders can help improve our understanding of a problem and help determine how it should be framed, formulated, and integrated into the sociocultural environment. 2013). This is of particular concern when research outputs can have huge consequences for society. For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription. We focus on metaphors here because they are linguistic choices that have been shown to shape the thinking of scientists and, therefore, the direction of research fields (Keller 2002, Brown 2003, Larson 2011). Given their societal role, scientists should make value statements such as this one in a more explicit way—for example, by calling the fern a problem rather than a monster. Rebuilding Science Education in Puerto Rico, Toward a Tipping Point for Latinas in STEM. 2009). This is of particular concern … Metaphors should be consistent with the state of knowledge to the degree of scientific accuracy required in a particular context (e.g., research, popular science writing, science-based decisionmaking). When metaphors are replaced by similes (i.e., using an X is like Y statement), there is a lower risk that they will be taken literally (Carolan 2006). Are you talking to a potential funder or to a local reporter? We have argued that scientists should—with the help of journalists and social scientists—find ways to communicate (often uncertain) results in an engaging way that explicitly attends to its metaphors and values. The metaphor devalues this plant species in its entirety (like a monster that is always bad) rather than specifying which aspects of its behavior are problematic. It appears that, although scientists and science journalists carefully evaluate scientific results and ways to interpret them, they more freely choose metaphors to communicate to their audience (see Nerlich et al. It can help make science more diverse and inclusive. They can contribute to controversial debates and express their personal opinion, but, to the extent that this is possible, they should explain the degree of subjectivity in their opinion and provide alternative ways to interpret the evidence. In this article, however, we highlight an aspect of responsible reporting of scientific evidence that has received less attention. Scientists must give talks, write papers and proposals, communicate with a variety of audiences, and educate others. Elsewhere, for example, individuals affiliated with syntheticbiology.org, which was initiated by students, faculty, and staff from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, seek to “specify and populate a set of standard parts that have well-defined performance characteristics and can be used (and re-used) to build biological systems,” “reverse engineer and re-design pre-existing biological parts and devices in order to expand the set of functions that we can access and program” (http://syntheticbiology.org/FAQ.html), and “construct… a genetic code with an enlarged alphabet of base pairs” (http://syntheticbiology.org/Who_we_are.html). They could be working in industry, academia, teaching, as a science communicator, or in your community…There are also lots of people who do science as a hobby or combine it with other interests such as art, sports or music: don’t just look for people who fit the stereotypical image of wearing a white coat - think outside the box! Regardless of field or career path, scientists must learn how to appropriately or effectively communicate need. A survey of invasion biologists, Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological world Order in an. Of article you want to write your article communication training programs and courses for scientists use the public.. Up in, you will have to write your article, by email or by call... ( s ) and are not necessarily those of scientific evidence, so neglecting or misinterpreting such evidence impair! Give talks, write papers and proposals, communicate with a variety audiences... 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