Filter by keyword: Professionalism, professional development and training in science communication

Aug 31, 2026 Conference Review

International Communication Association meeting in Cape Town, South Africa: a promising start and a practitioner challenge for science communication

The new Science Communication Interest Group (SCIG) of the International Communication Association (ICA) met for the first time on June 5–8, 2026, in Cape Town, South Africa. Presenters shared a diversity of research with a significant proportion focused on trust, especially trust in scientists, academics or experts in the face of increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and rising mis- and disinformation. However, despite frequent mentions of practical implications in research abstracts, there appeared to be little emphasis in the presentations on who projects specifically sought to help and what problems researchers were seeking to solve for other researchers or practitioners. Our hope is that future conferences will integrate the sub-field's growing methodological and theoretical sophistication with an equal focus on the needs of practitioners and audiences.

Volume 25Issue 62026

Jun 29, 2026 Letter

A response to: “Does science communication have its goals wrong? From persuading science skeptics to promoting scientific empowerment” — A defense of certain types of persuasion

by John C Besley , Sara K. Yeo , Anthony Dudo , Shupei Yuan

This response to the commentary “Does science communication have its goals wrong? From persuading science skeptics to promoting scientific empowerment” argues that the field would benefit from more attention to the persuasion literature, not less. A primary element of this argument is that a nuanced understanding of persuasion research can provide opportunities to achieve a wide range of goals — including empowering others — in ethical, evidence-based ways.

Publisher's note: this letter refers to Does science communication have its goals wrong? From persuading science skeptics to promoting scientific empowerment

Volume 25Issue 42026

Mar 19, 2026 Conference Review

Building science communication capacity and community in Asia: lessons from the first PCST Symposium in Japan

by Qinlin Wu

The PCST Symposium 2025, held in Tokyo from 11–13 November, marked the first PCST-related event hosted in Japan. The symposium explored the strategic development of science communication in Asia, focusing on education and training, as well as public engagement. Navigating challenges such as linguistic diversity, limited professional development, and underrepresentation in Western discourse, Asian science communicators are harnessing new platforms and networks to expand local engagement and international impact through culturally rooted narratives.

Volume 25Issue 12026

Mar 02, 2026 Article

Perceptions and values of Spanish women scientists towards digital science communication

by Rosana Villares , Carmen Pérez-Llantada , Oana Maria Carciu

The digitalisation of science communication has been widely promoted within the Open Science movement in Europe to foster the social impact of research, as well as a more participatory culture of science. Using semi-structured interviews, we explore Spanish women scientists' values and perceptions regarding digital science communication. Results highlight the social value of science communication as well as intrinsic motivation as factors to actively engage in disseminating, educating and promoting science digitally. Adopting Open Science principles, participants craft open access multimodal materials (e.g., educational short videos, podcasts), use supporting multimodal resources and digital tools, and engage in social media to reach broad audiences. Finally, we propose some policy recommendations and pedagogical guidelines in terms of digital literacy, digital genres, and science accommodation strategies to promote digital science communication.

Volume 25Issue 12026

Feb 23, 2026 Article

“Everything has changed”: a qualitative study of trends in university communication over the past decade

by Isabel Sörensen , Sophia Charlotte Volk , Silke Fürst , Mike S. Schäfer , Daniel Vogler

Universities are pivotal in contemporary knowledge societies, bridging science and society. Amidst societal transformations, communication has become crucial for higher education institutions (HEIs). Yet, research on university communication is limited, with few studies capturing long-term developments. This qualitative study addresses this gap by examining changes in university communication departments over the past decade in Switzerland. Semi-structured interviews with 30 communication practitioners and university leaders in eight HEIs reveal that university communication has diversified with regard to digital channels and stakeholders, intensified in terms of personnel and output, and professionalized. Moreover, some, albeit not all communication departments have increasingly aligned their communication strategies with university strategies. Despite the fact that “everything has changed”, differences exist among various types and clusters of universities. This study contributes to understanding how and why long-term changes in institutional science communication emerge. It also offers insights for communication practitioners for enhancing university communication processes and structures.

Volume 25Issue 12026

Jan 19, 2026 Article

Who supports STEM early career researchers' active science communication? A qualitative ego-network-analysis

by Lennart Banse , Fenja Heinke , Friederike Hendriks

Early career researchers (ECRs) are increasingly socialised in professional environments where science communication is seen as part of their academic role. ECRs respond to these expectations differently, shaped in part by social relationships within and beyond academia. This study uses ego-network interviews with 24 highly communicative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) ECRs in Germany to examine how social relationships influence the importance as well as the integration of science communication in their professional identity. Results show that recognition and support often come from private contacts and the science communication community, while workplace environments are perceived as less supportive and formative. Moreover, different formats and processes of science communication seem to be tied to distinct networks and underlying communication motives.

Volume 25Issue 12026

Dec 16, 2025 Practice Insight

Strengthening practice-research connections to improve evaluation: perspectives of science communication practitioners

by Ana Godinho , Sophia Charlotte Volk , Mike S. Schäfer

Researchers and practitioners have emphasised the importance of evaluating science communication, but agree that, on the one hand, much research on evaluation does not find its way into practice, and on the other, researchers do not fully benefit from the wealth of data that practitioners produce. Using semi-structured interviews with heads of communications at different research organisations in four countries we show that practitioners agree on the importance of evaluation, but that obstacles to evaluation cut across organisational characteristics and countries. Our interviews suggest that communications leaders have a strong interest in working with researchers, and we discuss their proposals for practice-research interfaces that could improve evaluation practice.

Volume 24Issue 072025

Sep 11, 2025 Practice Insight

Action learning workshops for scientists: science communication for public engagement skills for the VLIR-Teams Active Parks research group

by Denisse H Vasquez-Guevara , Diego Andres Lazzarini Moscoso , Santiago Jose Bermeo , Carolina Seade , Angelica Ochoa-Aviles

Universities and funding agencies are increasingly expecting research teams to include initiatives promoting public engagement, which often require public science communication. However, developing science communication skills can be challenging for researchers due to the limited availability of training opportunities. This practice insight documents the experiences of researchers participating in action-learning science communication workshops developed for the VLIR-Teams Active Parks research group in Cuenca, Ecuador. Through learning activities, researchers developed interdisciplinary science communication skills, including self-reflexivity, crafting speeches, and content creation for social media, to effectively communicate their study's outcomes on public park usage to stakeholders and various community audiences. The workshops proved effective in building public engagement skills and developing self-reflexivity, enabling researchers to create impactful, audience-centered initiatives that fostered meaningful connections with the community.

Volume 24Issue 052025

Aug 12, 2025 Article

Science communication in the absence of science journalism: exploring the role of public relations officers in Taiwanese scientific organizations

by Yin-Yueh Lo

This research examines how public relations (PR) officers in Taiwanese scientific organizations view their science communication roles in a context with limited professional science journalism. Through a survey of 67 PR officers, we investigate their perceptions of public trust in their organization, their media relations and communication strategies. Results indicate that while PR officers recognize the importance of science communication, they perceive less media interest in scientific content compared to organizational news. Potentially, this leads to a self-reinforcing cycle where the perception of low media interests further reduces PR efforts in communicating research findings and potentially harms organizations’ perceived legitimacy at scientific research.

Volume 24Issue 042025

Jul 28, 2025 Article

Profiling the geoscience community: exploring patterns of science communication and public engagement

by Joana Rodrigues , Cecília Castro , Elsa Costa e Silva , Diamantino Insua Pereira

This research investigates how members of the geoscience community in Portugal perceive and engage in science communication, identifying distinct patterns and practitioner profiles. Statistical analysis and a clustering algorithm were used to identify communication patterns based on practitioners' communication goals, target audiences, training, and self-efficacy. The results align with expected patterns but provide new empirical evidence of the relationship between communication goals and audience targeting, offering specific data for the geoscience community.

Volume 24Issue 042025

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