Improving Academic Communication
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Transcript of Improving Academic Communication
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Improving Academic Communication
Patrick Dunleavy and Chris GilsonLSE Public Policy GroupInvestigating Academic Impacts conference13 June 2011
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Outline
Academic communication as it is now Academic blogging, and the advent of Multi-
author academic blogs (MAABs) Using social media Multi-author blogs at the LSE and beyond
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Academic Communication as it is now
Journal articles, conference proceedings (very high-price) books, book reviews
Journal articles and books are read by few, and rarely picked up by the media
The text of books and closed-web articles is completely inaccessible to those without journal/library access, far too long, and often impenetrably written
Reflecting a one-way (experts only) communications process
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Academic Communication cont’d
BUT – social scientists are observers who need to
communicate their observations to the world (in a timely fashion)
- much of social scientists’ knowledge and input goes unapplied because of very long time-lines for outputs, and lack of adaptation or translation
So how can we change or complement the ‘traditional’ model?
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Academic blogging and the advent of Multi-Author Academic Blogs (MAABs)
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Academic Blogging Academics going online is not new
Electronic journals began in disk/BBS format in 1980s and the first ‘Internet’ journals in the mid 1990s
Academic blogging is different Shorter articles: 300 – 1,200 words Easy to share by email, social networks Searchable on the open web – could be a teaching tool Whole person style – where content may be personal
as well as academic Instant comments and feedback
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Academic Blogging, contd Anyone can do it – exceptionally easy software Hosting
WordpressBloggerSelf-hosted InstitutionalHosted in mainstream media
Dissemination is immediate – seconds as compared to years
Spectrum of offerings from stars (like Paul Krugman) to more ordinary academic folk
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Single author blogs
Have grown massively in popularity (with their authors) in recent years; e.g. Warwick lists over 7,000 on their portal with over 140,000 entries
But, without frequent updates, these often wither – 75%+ of blogs worldwide are dead or dormant
With increasing pressure on academics and university staff – who has the time to blog?
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Single author blogs
Content is king, and ‘vanity’ projects with infrequent posts are counter-productive and won’t survive
Some SABs are successful in the political arena (Guido Fawkes)
But most SABs are now either shutting down or joining with other (more corporate) bloggers – even in political commentary (Iain Dale)
Appetite for personal commentary/ glimpses of life has now shifted to Twitter?
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Multi-author academic blogs (MAABs)
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Multi-author academic blogs Multiple contributors
Covering many topics or subjectsPosting regularly and reliably, so that readers
know when to return Flexible formats – from ‘Top-level’ blogs with
hundreds of authors and posting every day (e.g. LSE’s British Politics and Policy blog)
Through to smaller MAABs for single departments or networks, posting weekly or bi-weekly
Comments and social media can help build a community
Easy to track readership with Google Analytics
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Multi-author blogs and social media
Twitter/FacebookPromote the blog and can greatly extend its
reach and visibilityAdd interactive elements to build
communityEncourage discussion, rapid correction and
clarifying
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Multi-author blogs – style tips Use short paragraphs, simple language ‘Front load’ the narrative – get the key points at the beginning Always use narrative titles (written by the blog team, not the
author) will help content to ‘go viral’ – can you retweet the title as it stands?
Include good introductory paragraphs (also written by the blog team) give the gist of the argument and key take-away messages
Don’t leave out simple, clear, charts and diagrams Give methods information where it is needed – help expand
public understanding of academic subjects A Creative Commons license helps content to spread
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Multi-author (themed) blogs
Work well linked to a journal (e.g. Social Europe) Can generate many Twitter followers (e.g. British
Politics and Policy at LSE has 4,200 in a year, Social Europe has 10,000+)
Can make good use of podcasts, video and other rich media elements (e.g. Social Europe)
Varied orientations e.g. The Conversation is a newspaper, Australian Policy Online is an indexer
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Smaller multi-author (themed) blogs
Are becoming more and more prevalent worldwide – a few we’ve noticed in our area:Many at LSE – Media, International Affairs,
AfricaOxford – Politics in SpiresNottingham - Ballots and Bullets
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Multi-author blogs
The internet is not a zero-sum game, and if many universities pitch in to better communicate academic knowledge to wider audiences the result should be beneficial for all
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Structural issues for MAABs Getting institutional buy-in is tricky:
Coping with academics who don’t “get it” and want to “stay long” – offer to rewrite stuff for them, giving them final editorial control (of main text)
Dealing with Press Office/ Communications/ External Relations and other vested interests, who often are very slow to change and feel threatened
DIY options – single departments/groups can run less ambitious MAABs. But what will make folk come back to you?
Faculty and university-wide MAABs will probably work best
Collaborations between institutions and networking can both help in assembling a critical mass of authors
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Conclusions Professional standards of communication are changing in
every walk-of-life and every academic discipline Usually towards getting shorter – “Less is more” Strong exceptions too though, like 24 hours news long
interviews, to fill the space; many webcasts and podcasts, etc. Main research outputs need different versions, targeted more
to segmented audiences (e.g. closed-web experts and open-web audiences)
But even these distinctions may lapse – e.g. free-to-read professional journals are opening up full details to everyone online (who’s expert enough)
And with 50% of each UK generation becoming graduates, and universities needing alumni support, communicating expertly to graduates is set to be more vital