Societal challenges like migration movements, climate change, or digitization show that there is a pressing need for informed expertise from virtually all fields of research. Yet, scientific knowledge often remains within its domain and reaches civil society only indirectly and delayed. In a 5-year citation window, 27% of the papers from natural sciences and 32% of the papers from social sciences remain uncited.
Expressed pointedly: While the need for scientific expertise is perhaps greater than ever, scientists produce papers that nobody reads. Moreover, neologisms like “alternative facts” suggest a noticeable loss of the scientific authority in the public opinion. All this raises a difficult question: What is the impact of science? In the next couple of weeks we will address this issue in more detail.
This article explores the evolving phenomenon of science communication in social media and the norms and values that shape these online spaces. We interviewed science communicators on TikTok, one of the most popular social media platforms globally, about using generative AI to produce science-related social media content. We found that authenticity, creativity, and academic integrity are central values of online science communication and shed light on how these spaces operate.
As generative AI applications in science proliferate they prompt a self-reflection on work routines in scientific knowledge production. At the same time, scientific institutions, publishing bodies, and funding agencies are confronted with both regulatory challenges and the task of promoting the use of generative AI in line with good scientific practice.
In this opinion piece Isabella Hermann reflects on AI and how the general perception of it is shaped by pop-culturel archetypes, represented for example in movies.
In this short analysis, Sami Nenno takes a closer look at the content of fact-checks and misinformation in Germany.
In this interview Theresa Züger gives exciting insights about the risks and opportunities AI bears for research work and talked about tools her team is developing.
This short analysis focuses on female scientists as a subgroup of a large survey sample and how their assessment of public engagement differs from that of their male counterparts.
In August 2023 Benedikt Fecher conducted an interview with Clemens Blümel from the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) on the topic of ‘what happens when science opens up and communicates’ and the emerging challenges for future scientific communication.
In this interview Teresa Völker speaks with Dr. Volker Meyer-Guckel about challenges and possible futures of science communication.
Niels Mede on how the rise of populist politics affects academic work, science communication practices of scholars engaging in public discourse and ways to address these challenges.
Peter Weingart on changing perceptions of science’s role in society, safeguarding autonomy, and the concept of dual legitimacy for scientific knowledge in policy decisions.
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