importance of scientific communication spreading the news ... · • a new piece of information...
TRANSCRIPT
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