Defending science by opening up: Lessons from Understanding Animal Research

Posted on 20 Jan 2017 by David Payne

In an effort to tackle the knowledge gap between scientists and the public, and to defend animal research, Understanding Animal Research’s communication strategy of proactive transparency serves as a model to scientists, says Lev Tankelevitch.

In the UK, almost half of the public believes that some animal research goes on without an official licence. The situation is similar in the US. This ignorance finds its way to policy makers around the world who dismiss academics and deride science. Clearly, there is a profound imbalance in the knowledge available to scientists and to the rest of society about animal research.

Illustration by Lev Tankelevitch

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A day in the life of a Scientific Reports publishing assistant

Posted on 28 Jun 2016 by Jack Leeming

Jessica Lawler helps shed some light on the publishing business for Scientific Reports and Naturejobs.

Every day in this job, I learn something new. As a publishing assistant, I guide manuscripts through the peer review process at Scientific Reports. As such I handle manuscripts at multiple stages of the process. I like to think of it as following a manuscript’s journey from the lab up out into the world. Each day brings new challenges. Organisational skills are a must.

Jessica Lawler

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Science communication: Whose responsibility is it?

Posted on 03 Nov 2015 by Julie Gould

Young scientists at the 2015 Lindau Nobel meeting discuss whose responsibility it is to disseminate scientific research to wider societies.

Nobel laureate William E. Moerner believes scientists should defend science more vigorously. But faced with contentious topics like genetically modified organisms, who’s best placed to get the right messages about science to the public?

Big data: Automation and collaboration

Posted on 19 Oct 2015 by Julie Gould

Data-intensive science requires more laboratory automation and collaboration between different stakeholders, says Daniela Quaglia.

Guest contributor Daniela Quaglia

As computers become more powerful and new technologies are more able to harness the complexity of biological life, data-intensive research is becoming more prominent. As a result, the way in which life scientists deal with data must also change. In particular, it is necessary to approach data collection and storage differently, and collaboration becomes key, both for the initial data gathering, and later for data interpretation. The sooner scientists will be ready to embrace the change, the faster science will continue to progress.

I believe that three main aspects are core to a successful transition to this new world of big science.

Automation of data collection and storage

Data-intensive research can be considered a synonym for labour-intensive research (read lab-slavery – an unappealing concept for many early-career researchers!), and thus data collection becomes the bottleneck of laboratory-based work. Continue reading →

Science communication: Engaging data to engage people

Posted on 29 Sep 2015 by Julie Gould

Digital storytelling can offer unprecedented insights into scientific data for both the lay public and scientific researchers, says Samuel Van Ransbeek.

Guest contributor Samuel Van Ransbeek

Data can be made much more engaging when using visualisation techniques.{credit}Image credit: Design Pics/Thinkstock{/credit}

In the century of information, it has become fashionable to make data publicly available. Governments, NGO’s, private companies and others seem to be in a race to make the most data available as soon as possible. However, with petabytes of data being published every day, we have to ask ourselves: What are we going to do with all the data? Publishing them online is only one part of the job. We need to harness the data so that people can understand and interact with them.

Furthermore, in an era of scientific complexity and with the deluge of data currently being produced by research, it becomes paramount to engage the general public so they do not become distanced from science and important societal issues.

There are various possibilities in making data accessible. Here I’ll give just a few examples of what others are doing to engage the public with scientific data.

Infographics

Infographics are more than just some stacked columns and graphs. They are a visual way of storytelling through data. Infographics reveal the often abstract, statistical data and present them in a format which is easy to absorb. It has become a mainstream phenomenon in contemporary journalism and in mass communication in general. Continue reading →

Science communication: A beginner’s journey

Posted on 22 Jun 2015 by Julie Gould

Part one of a series of posts on science communication and public engagement from a beginner in the field.

Contributor Emily Porter

Emily Porter

When I first told my non-academic acquaintances that I was doing a PhD, I got a few puzzled looks. They were even more mystified when I went on to explain what my project was. I had assumed they would be interested but they tuned out only a short way into my introduction (I was working on a cat virus).

This got me thinking, why is it generally considered acceptable to discuss popular culture, art or history at a dinner party, but not science or mathematics? Perhaps because everyone is comfortable with having an opinion on these subjects, there is no right or wrong answer, whilst it is more daunting to go out on a limb and argue about a scientific theory.

As scientists, we have a duty to inform and enthuse people about what we do and who knows, we might even receive new perspectives or ideas from them in return. Many of us are funded by government schemes or charitable trusts and in return for their support, it is only fair that we give something back in return. We also owe it to our profession. After all, where will the next generation of researchers come from if we don’t show people how fascinating and rewarding science can be?

However, how much do people really know about what a scientist does in the lab on a day to day basis? A recent Ipsos MORI poll reports that whilst most people claim they are aware of what scientists do, 20% still say they’re not really sure. Slightly worryingly, 35% of people think that ‘scientists adjust their findings to get the answers they want’, with honesty being the most desirable trait in a scientist and only 52% of people think that what they hear about science is generally true. Although thankfully 81% of people think that on the whole, science will make our lives easier. Continue reading →

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