Importance of scientific communication Spreading the news ... · • a new piece of information...
Transcript of Importance of scientific communication Spreading the news ... · • a new piece of information...
Importance of scientific
communication
Spreading the news and
reaping the benefits
University of Oulu Graduate School
Introduction to Doctoral Training
March 19, 2015
Reseach is communicating
• why communicate
• with whom to communicate
• how to do it
• caveats
Why is research communicating
• science is not an individual endeavour, but driven by
a scientific community
• a new piece of information becomes part of scientific
knowledge by a gradual process of approval
-> communicating with one’s own scientific
community is an essential part of research
-> by communicating a researcher establishes his/her
position in the scientific community
-> learning the means and methods of communicating is
an essential part of learning to do research
Communication in research
• target audiences:
• colleagues in the same / close research field(s)
• funders, supervisors, administrators
• colleagues in a wider sense (physicians, teachers…)
• the public
• different objectives, channels – and language
• how to succeed in any of these:
• analyze the situation
• address the reader / listener / mediator (journalists!)…
• use appropriate language and formulations
Scholarly journals
• forum for discussion and new knowledge
formulation in scientific communities
• tasks: social, archiving, distributing
• number grows continuously
– those publishing original studies
– abstract journals
– review journals
• essential characteristic: peer review of
offered manuscripts
Scholarly journals –
an innovation from the 17th century
• more and more
specialization…
• peer review practice
developed starting
at the end of the
19th century
Derek J. de Solla Price:
Little Science, Big Science ...
and Beyond, 1986
Manuscript in a scholarly journal
referees / reviewers
editors of the journal author(s) print
Publication ideologies
of scholarly journals • traditional:
• scholarly society or commercial publisher
• subscribers pay for a paper journal and/or right to use an
electronic journal
• for authors either free of charge or subject to charge
• open access publishing:
• authors pay
• for readers (often) free of charge, an electronic journal open to all
• e.g. Public Library of Science (www.plos.org)
Biomed Central (www.biomedcentral.com)
• Education Research Global Observatory
(http://www.ergobservatory.info/ejdirectory.html)
Directory of
Open Access
Journals
DOAJ
www.doaj.org
Publication forums –
researcher’s point of view
• journals in one’s own scientific discipline
or closer field
• journals in the disciplines of scientific
collaborators
• general scientific journals
• journals in one’s own
scientific discipline or
closer field
• journals in the disciplines
of scientific collaborators
• general scientific journals
Publication forums –
researcher’s point of view
• journals in one’s own
scientific discipline or closer
field
• journals in the disciplines of
scientific collaborators
• general scientific journals
Publication forums –
researcher’s point of view
• basic journals of one’s own
scientific discipline
• journals of the disciplines of
scientific collaborators
• general scientific journals
Publication forums –
researcher’s point of view
What are the differences between these
• general scientific journals
• subject and results must be ”generally interesting”
• better to have media appeal (”mediaseksikäs”…)
• journals in one’s own discipline or closer field
• reflect the interests of one’s closest colleagues
• journals of scientific collaborators
• reflect the interests of another discipline
-> choice between these affects what results are
presented and how…
A scholarly article must
enable the reader to
• assess the observations reported
• reproduce the observations or
experiments made, if (s)he wants/needs
• evaluate whether the conclusions made
are adequate
Ethics for research communication
• thorough knowledge of scientific literature
and fair recognition of others
• requirements of authorship / contributorship
• honest reporting of results
• due diligence and integrity when acting as
referee
• avoiding exaggeration of the novelty or
(practical) significance of one’s own results
(in particular when addressing the public)
How to start
• sharpen your tools
– writing skills
– use of English and other relevant languages
– ethics and copyright issues
– public speaking
• use every opportunity of presenting
you work
– remember the context
– enjoy discussing your work with others