Communicating Discovery Science

With support from The Kavli Foundation, a special issue of the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM), titled “Communicating Discovery Science,” explores the unique insights, challenges, and opportunities associated with communicating basic, discovery science. Topics covered in the issue will also be discussed at a related symposium at Stellenbosch University in late November.

“We are excited to present this special issue of JCOM that we hope will contribute to best practice and further research about public communication of discovery science and also help to create connections between science communication researchers and scholars,” said Marina Joubert, deputy editor for the Journal of Science Communication and associate professor at Stellenbosch University. “We thank The Kavli Foundation, along with the authors, editors and reviewers who helped to make it possible, and we look forward to seeing this collection of research articles, essays and practice insights in print."

For the foundation, the work also represents a culminating piece of SciPEP, the Science Public Engagement Partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science and The Kavli Foundation. Rick Borchelt, who recently retired from his role as the Director of Communications and Public Affairs and Senior Advisor to the Director for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, served as the guest editor for the special JCOM issue. He and Brooke Smith, director of science and society at The Kavli Foundation, were the driving force behind the SciPEP Partnership.

”We launched the SciPEP project to catalyze discussion about engaging the public with discovery science where it has been mostly absent in the broader conversations in contemporary science communication,” said Borchelt. “To that end, we explored how scientists and science communicators view and perform their communication roles, identified best practices, and supported critical scholarship to better understand how various public choose to engage around basic science. This collection of essays, research, and practice insights — chosen from dozens more submissions we received — reflects how the work of SciPEP has struck a resonant chord across the scicomm ecosystem, and identifies compelling ways to embrace discovery science communication as an essential part of science public engagement.”

The special issue begins with Borchelt’s opening editorial, as well as a contributed paper from Brooke Smith and Keegan Sawyer outlining key insights learned through SciPEP-funded work and convenings. It is followed by articles, case studies, and essays from a range of organizations. With lessons learned from the Higgs boson announcement to the public perceptions of ocean science, this in-depth issue covers a wide range of considerations for communicating basic science.

“This JCOM Special Issue is the first of its kind – a collection of scholarly papers specific to communicating discovery science,” said Smith. “A focus on what is unique about communicating discovery science is long overdue, given the great efforts working to engage communities in frontier science. We hope this special issue is just the beginning of new research, insights, and sharing about discovery science communication.”