Scientific writing: News, blogs, public communication

What is public communication?

Scientific public engagement consists of purposeful interactions that create a platform for scientists to help the public share information about specific issues, research, and topics. Public communication can take various written forms, including news, podcasts, and blogs.

While scientific communication (journal articles, lab reports, etc.) includes all the steps and methods used to support a person's findings, public communication mostly focuses on the main facts and supporting details

Why is public communication needed? 

Science plays a great part in our lives and our society. However, not everyone comes from a scientific educational background. Public communication is important because it takes scientific information and makes it easier for the public to comprehend and access. This type of communication is a great approach to teaching people about different scientific topics and bringing awareness to issues that affect us as a society. 

Understanding how public communication is different from traditional scientific communication

General tips for public communication writing

Identify your goals 

When you are structuring your information, you have to know what your main goals and objectives are so you can make your information easy for the public to communicate.

Some different reasons why people create for public communication:

• to present your findings
• to educate people on research topics they may not know
• to raise awareness about an issue
• to influence policy or research

Avoid using jargon

As you are writing scientific your news/blogs, make sure you are not using unfamiliar terms. Since some of your readers might not come from a scientific background, they might not be know these "insider" terms. Use terms that the broader audience can comprehend. If scientific terminology is required, be sure to explain what those words mean.

Tip: If you want to confirm that your writing makes sense to the public, you can share it with a person who has a different professional/educational background and see if it makes sense to them. 

Focus on the Bigger Impact

When it comes to reading news, blogs, public communication, people want to know two things: why your work is important and how your topic can impact them. What is the bigger picture? Why should people care? Let people know if it your information has a financial, technological, educational, or political impact.

If there are misconceptions surrounding the topic you are focusing on, you do not have to ignore them. Instead, you can give proof of what is actually true.

Make sure your sources are credible.

As you search for articles to back up your goals and the impact you are focusing on, you will want to double check that your sources are credible. A lot of information on the internet may not be true, so you have to take the time to evaluate your sources.

There are four things you should think about when you find a source:

• Authority: Who is the author/creator, and are they credible? Is there any information on the author or the publisher?
• Currency: When was the work created? 
• Relevance: Is the work important for what you are trying to focus on?
• Perspective: Does the information provided focusing on fact, or does it seem like it is influenced by a certain bias (e.g. political beliefs)? 

Resources

Examples

• UIC Today

This source has news focused on UIC-related Research and events

• UIClife Blog

This source has blog posts focusing on UIC events and other topics.

• ScienceNews- Health & Medicine News

This source has recent news focusing on health & medicine. 

Books

Articles