• Question: What different ways are there to present new research to the public?

    Asked by anon-254455 on 22 May 2020.
    • Photo: Charlotte Walker

      Charlotte Walker answered on 22 May 2020:

      Hi Fin,

      So there are a few ways to communicate research. Normally to begin with you would publish your research in a scientific journal, these are specialised publications with a target audience, mainly other scientists. At the same time as this publication is happening you can send out a press release to the media and tweet about your findings. This way it not only goes to other scientists but is also available to the public.

      I often talk about my research in public outreach events such as National Science week and school careers days. I also write articles for magazines, these are written specifically for the general public so are easier to understand than the original publication in the scientific journal. I also find Twitter is a very good platform for sharing science.

    • Photo: Helen Roy

      Helen Roy answered on 23 May 2020:

      Sharing the latest discoveries from research is so important and so enjoyable. It is more and more important for people to be informed of the ecological evidence that we get from the work we are doing so that they can get involved with making important decisions about conservation. I enjoy the excitement of new discoveries and it is fun to share that as widely as possible. There are so many different ways to present new research. Often after publishing in a scientific journal I will work with communication experts to send out a press release to the media and this often leads to journalists reporting on the story. I really enjoy giving radio interviews and having the opportunity to reach many people. I also give talks to lots of different groups of all ages. My favourite part of giving a talk is answering questions and seeing what other people think about the topic and the aspects that intrigue them. Writing articles for magazines or blogs is also fun. I am always very excited when I get a request from BBC Wildlife to answer a question or write an article. Twitter is an excellent way to disseminate discoveries as they happen. I tweet lots about ladybirds and lately moths too. I have also enjoyed being involved in panel discussions – both with an audience in a conventional meeting room or through an online forum such as Sense about Science. I’m very excited to see the innovations that others come up with for science communication – comedy, art, theatre … there are so many different ways.

    • Photo: Mary Gagen

      Mary Gagen answered on 23 May 2020:

      Great question! Traditionally research findings would have been presented to everyone, whether that was other researchers or the wider public, in an academic journal article. Academic journals are like magazines, but just for research findings. The press might have then written an article, in a newspaper or magazine, about the research findings. In the digital age we live in now, however, there are so many more ways to directly communicate research to the public. Many researchers post summaries of their findings on social media, primarily on Twitter. We also use things like talks, videos, animations and infographics (like cartoons) to summarise research findings. Animations are a favourite method of mine. Another novel method sometimes used is for an artist to draw the research finding, often after they see a presentation about it, by the researcher. Researchers have got a lot better at talking with the public about how to communicate findings. Have a think about how you would like to see research communicated to you? What methods would you find most useful, if you wanted to learn about a research topic that was important to you? Would you find the same methods as useful as someone who was different from you, say an older, or much younger, person? When we pick a method to communicate research, thinking about who the audience is is very important. Different audiences need different communication methods.

    • Photo: Emily Cheek

      Emily Cheek answered on 26 May 2020:

      There are so many different ways of communicating science research and findings now and technology is a great help. As others have mentioned key work is published in a peer-reviewed journal which is generally targeted at other academics. The work can be presented at conferences, events and so on either by oral presentation or in the form of a poster. Social media is a great way of sharing the key messages with a wider audience and in an easier to understand language. Summary documents or factsheets can be produced to share with key audiences including healthcare professionals and local authority. e-learning tools and games are developing too as well as interactive sessions via YouTube or Twitter involving Q&A sessions, podcasts or webinars.

Comments

  • Photo: Nicole

    Nicole commented on :

    Great question Fin!
    Our options for sharing our research with the public are growing as online methods expand. They vary a lot in terms of how quickly they get information out and how many people they reach:
    • The first thing we usually do is publish a journal article, and talk to the press department to see if the media might be interested in reporting on our research.
    • If so, we write a press release. The press release is sent to different media outlets and they may use it to report on your research. This can depend a lot on what other news breaks on the day your paper comes out, so can be very fickle, but can potentially reach a lot of people. You may be asked to go on the radio or TV to talk more about your work.
    • Blogging and tweeting your research is quick, but reach depends on who follows you and where your blog is hosted.
    • Talking about your research on a podcast often has a trade-off between how long your research is featured and how popular the podcast is.
    • Doing interviews for magazines or writing a magazine article on your research can be effective, but this often happens on a long time scale (an article I wrote that’s coming out next month was commissioned by the magazine nearly a year ago).
    • Running activities for the public, designing online activities or games, giving talks to the public, or making videos reaches fewer people but they are more likely to remember your research.
    • Speaking to screenwriters or authors about our research can lead to your work being used in fiction that could reach a lot of people. My research is being used as a plot point for a movie, but this will take years from the initial idea to filming, and depends on getting funding.