Volume 24 • Issue 04 • 2025

Metaphors are prevalent in environmental science communication, because they describe complex topics in more familiar terms. Yet, little research has investigated whether metaphors contribute to comprehension in such communication. This experiment (N=510) disentangles the effects of different metaphor types on comprehension-related outcomes for three environmental concepts (greenhouse effect, carbon footprint, greenwashing). Results showed small but statistically significant effects of some metaphors on perceived text comprehensibility and perceived comprehension, but no effects on actual comprehension. No mediation effects were attested. Science communication could thus benefit from metaphor, but communicators should be careful not to overdo it, nor to overestimate its effectiveness.

Previous research has suggested that incorporating emotional language and exemplars within inoculation messages could enhance their effectiveness in inducing resistance to climate change misinformation. We conducted a between-subject experiment with four conditions (negative narrative inoculation, positive narrative inoculation, didactic inoculation, and misinformation only condition) to test the effectiveness of inoculation. We found that didactic inoculation increased perceived threat significantly more than both types of narrative inoculations. However, there were no significant differences across these three types of inoculation messages in conferring resistance to misinformation regarding counterarguing against misinformation, belief in misinformation, perceived credibility of misinformation, or intention to share misinformation.

Extending previous research on how science fiction viewing and science news use predict attitudes toward a range of emerging technologies, this study draws on theories of genre-specific cultivation and narrative transportation to analyze how media consumption predicts attitudes toward two speculative technologies: mind uploading and terraforming. Results from a survey of the U.S. public (N = 1,015) show that science fiction viewing was positively related to support for mind uploading, while science fiction transportation was positively related to support for terraforming, belief that people are likely to develop mind uploading, and belief that people are likely to develop terraforming. Transportation also mediated relationships between science fiction viewing and attitudes. In addition, science news use was positively related to support for each technology and belief that people are likely to develop each technology. These findings highlight the potential role of media factors in predicting attitudes about hypothetical technologies.

Science podcasts have become an increasingly popular channel for science communication. Although podcasting has risen in popularity, little is known about why science podcasters choose to pursue this pathway for communication and how they set about achieving their goals for their podcast. Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with 20 science podcasters in Australia, our results reveal that the podcasters are mainly driven by personal factors such as their interest in, enjoyment of, and curiosity about science and that while they employ various tactics to achieve their goals, they do not consciously consider these tactics to be a form of strategic science communication.

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.

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.

Stem cell research and therapies have been the topic of hype in the news media in Europe, America, Asia and the Pacific. Using a computational approach, we examine stem cell hype in the news media in the unique political, media and cultural context of Vietnam. The results indicate a pattern of the news media portraying this medical advancement as a source of national pride and achievement to tap into consumers' patriotism. The computational frame analysis method was shown to be efficient, helpful, and useful when researchers are confronted with urgent social, technological or public health matters. Findings from this study suggest that there is a need for national and international efforts to investigate news media content that misrepresents the current stage of stem cell treatment efficacy and risks.

This study explores how YouTube content creators integrate scientific evidence into their videos by analyzing citation patterns across disciplines. The role of other alternative metrics is also considered. We apply Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to compare the citation count of 12,005 research articles from Biotechnology, Psychology, Astrophysics, and Ecology published between 2014 and 2023, including citations sourced from YouTube videos. Our findings provide a characterization of two principal components in evidence citation employed by various science communication stakeholders. The first component enhances a paper's visibility by driving social attention, while the second focuses on its social influence and impact, determined by the paper's quality and scientific relevance.

This paper presents a practical insight based on the case study of the European Researchers' Night held in the rural village of Armamar, northern Portugal. By moving this initiative beyond traditional academic and urban settings, we helped bridge the gap between science and rural communities, and democratise access to science through a co-creation process, deep-rooted community partnerships, and active student engagement. Drawing from the RERN-Armamar blueprint, we highlight the importance of promoting and/or building from locally established networks of partners, including the school community. Local ambassadors with a diverse range of profiles can act as multipliers, engaging researchers from diverse institutions, teachers, students and their families. Context sensitive formats which promote inclusive, equitable, and sustainable access to science, in addition to the alignment of content with community interests, has further contributed to the success of the action.

Involving school students in authentic research beyond their school learning means creating participatory, out-of-school opportunities related to research processes, giving them a voice in the applied format of science engagement. Important for such endeavours is a group of people we identify as “enablers”. Based on insights from two long-term and large-scale science engagement initiatives in Germany (the Darwin Day science outreach and the Plastic Pirates citizen science program), we identified four principal work tasks of enablers. They are described as (i) aligning the needs, expectations and goals of involved participants, (ii) translating differing conceptions about science into shared visions, (iii) guiding the design of the initiative through educational theory, and (iv) evaluating the success of the out-of-school science engagement initiative. We further suggest that self-awareness of being an enabler, working at the interface of the research and education sphere, is an important prerequisite to successfully collaborate with participants.

This is the age of exoplanets. Thousands of planets around other suns have been discovered, upending settled science. Unlike spectacular imagery of other phenomena (e.g., nebulae), exoplanets are difficult to `directly' image, and exoplanet scientific imagery is visually limited. This practice insight is a qualitative case study of how artists and scientists at NASA's Exoplanet Travel Bureau co-imagined exoplanets as destinations of the future, with the artists playing an essential role of clarifying and extending scientific thinking. Using textual/visual analysis of how the Bureau's iconic series of exoplanet posters (launched in 2015) invited the public to visit exoplanet landscapes, this practice insight reflects on a recent historical instance of how exoplanets were visually communicated to the public in innovative ways, using overlapping scientific and artistic practices.

This response addresses George Claassen's review of The Palgrave Handbook of Science and Health Journalism. The review raises several salient points; however, the biggest criticism of this work arises from a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Palgrave Handbook series. We wholeheartedly agree that there are lessons for the field of science communication. Engaging with more diverse perspectives and adopting a global lens for exploration of science and health journalism are priorities for the field. These are common themes in the Handbook, which we believe is still a useful resource to help facilitate these much-needed explorations.

 

Publisher's note: this letter refers to Book Review: Palgrave Handbook of Science and Health Journalism