• Global Science

Global Science 环球科学 is Scientific American‘s exclusive licensed Chinese edition. Global Science maintains its American counterpart’s rigorous, objective reporting while focusing on topics of interest to Chinese researchers. Global Science has four registered official accounts on WeChat (as can be seen in the screenshot below) of which only two are active.

According to the Qingbo report, as of July 2022, Global Science’s WeChat public account with the ID huanqiukexue has a read rate of 47,325 and was ranked 1345 among all WeChat public accounts (which number over 20 million). This account focuses on journal article promotion and publishing. The second account with the ID keyanquan focuses on the latest academic news and has a lower read rate (38,318) but is still ranked very high at 2357. These two public accounts engage with the majority of researchers in China through services like an online bookstore, job postings, article recommendations, and research promotion solutions.

Global Science has successfully created a strong presence among researchers in China by setting up separate WeChat accounts with a different focus but publishing high-quality reports and original articles.

• Voice of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is both the academic governing body and national think tank of China. It drives national technological innovation, supports science and technology research throughout the country, and also includes a comprehensive research and development network. CAS has a strong presence on several China-based social media platforms, including Weibo and WeChat, and it also publishes videos and e-journals.

The WeChat account of CAS, Voice of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (中科院之声ID: zkyzswx), has a daily read rate of 26,700 and as of July 2022 is ranked 2651 among all WeChat accounts according to the Qingbo report. Unlike other associations and societies in China, CAS publishes only news articles through WeChat and does not offer any other services. Their articles are comprehensive in scope and cover various developments in Chinese scientific research. Uniquely, all of their articles include an audio introduction and text.

• Academic Record

Academic Record is a platform for academic communication and education founded by researchers from prestigious universities such as Communication University of China and Renmin University of China. Over 2 million university professors, doctors, and researchers are active on this platform. Its mission is to promote the growth of Chinese research, cultivate talent in China’s research community, and disseminate research advances, particularly in the humanities and social sciences.

As of July 2022, the WeChat account of Academic Record学术志 has a read rate of 35,316 and is ranked 2650 according to the Qingbo report. Academic Record has made headway in increasing user stickiness by providing various services through its WeChat account. These include article publishing, academic courses, free e-books, and AI-assisted research topic analysis. In China, it has a strong brand image as a top source of skills-based knowledge and courses for self-paced learning.

The Bottom Line

Organizations have employed different strategies to succeed on WeChat, considering their organizational goals, structure, and resources. There’s no one-size-fits-all path to a strong WeChat presence; successful organizations are constantly monitoring and refining their tactics to improve engagement and connect with the Chinese research community.

What drives high read rates and user stickiness in WeChat? View this guide to learn more.

The post WeChat for Academia: 3 Scientific Accounts with High Engagement appeared first on CACTUS.

It’s therefore not surprising that many international publishers are looking to engage with research communities in specific countries, through customized and localized messaging strategies. Digital engagement is obviously easier and faster than setting up physical offices in a new country. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to digital communication rarely works with international audiences, and publishers need to know certain things about any new market they enter.

What Academic Publishers Should Know About a New Market

1. Local information behaviors – The way researchers search for, access, and share information can vary quite drastically between countries. A 2020 study of early career researchers found that Chinese participants were least likely to use social media to share research for reputation-building, while US and UK participants were less likely to read a paper based on its journal’s impact factor or number of downloads. Searching and sharing behaviors are strongly influenced by local infrastructure, economic and political policies, and culture. For example, South Korea’s superfast Internet speed and high smartphone penetration result in an overwhelming preference for mobile-friendly content among South Korean researchers. Further, Naver is the primary search platform, rather than Google, which means that SEO strategies need to be adapted to Naver for this market.
2. Attitude toward trends in scholarly publishing – To successfully engage with a country’s research community, a publisher needs to understand the general attitude towards highly divisive topics like open access, data sharing, preprints, etc. For example, a study in Croatia found that researchers were largely neutral toward open peer review, open data, and use of preprints, whereas in a Korean survey, more than half of the participants positively viewed preprints and open access. Obviously, a publisher cannot change its stance on, for example, preprints, based on the sentiments prevailing in a particular country, but the publisher can make an effort to understand and address the apprehensions of the local research community (e.g., fear of getting scooped). Chinese researchers’ attitudes toward open access journals are complex and changing. Download this whitepaper to learn more.
3. What competition is doing – Building an online presence in a new market requires publishers to see how their competitors are engaging with the community and creating a following. These competitors could be local players or even other international scientific brands that have successfully created a presence in the new market. For example, is their content mobile-friendly? How are their websites organized? Do they share localized or curated content? Do they use email or social media marketing?  
4. Social and cultural norms around the research community – Publishers need to understand their audiences as a whole, if they want to successfully engage with them. For example, Chinese researchers report high competition and stress levels with regard to getting their papers published, despite government efforts to reduce reliance on publication in SCI journals for decisions related to promotion, tenure, and funding. 
5. Local social media platforms and how they are used – It’s not surprising that some countries have their own social media platforms (e.g., WeChat in China, KakaoTalk in Korea). And publishers looking to build an online presence in these countries cannot afford to overlook their social media platforms. However, merely setting up an account on a new platform can be futile, without a deep understanding of how people use it. For example, WeChat provides a comprehensive suite of solutions to users, beyond just messaging and content sharing (e.g., games, payments, booking cabs, and even access to some government services). KakaoTalk allows users to follow brands or celebrities through its “Plus Friend” feature and also send real-life gifts to friends, all without leaving the platform. Publishers therefore need to understand how researchers actually use a particular platform and then optimize their content accordingly. See also: Why The BMJ had difficulty engaging with Chinese researchers and how using WeChat helped
6. Popularity of international platforms in the local market – Even though many social media platforms that publishers currently use are popular internationally, publishers will find that they have to tweak their social media mix and strategy when they enter a new market. For example, Facebook is a popular source of news in the US, but in India, WhatsApp and YouTube are more popular as news sources and Facebook is seeing plateauing growth despite there being more Facebook users than any other country. In other words, publishers will need to set up local accounts even on internationally used platforms, and then follow unique strategies to build local followings.

Conclusion

For academic publishers, entering a new market is not a matter of simply setting up a site with a local domain and translating existing website content. To build a successful online presence in a new country requires deep understanding of multiple social, cultural, and political factors. Publishers therefore need to invest time and resources into understanding the local research community, before they can successfully engage with them.

Here’s your handy guide on how to adapt your social media content for a new market–

The post Building a Digital Presence in a New Country: What Academic Publishers Should Know appeared first on CACTUS.

1.           Encourage attendees to create detailed profiles, including social media handles. Detailed profiles help attendees get to know each other and discover commonalities, which can help break the ice. Profiles shouldn’t include merely what they’re researching, but allow attendees to share personal interests (e.g., yoga, gaming).

2.           When promoting your event, especially on social media, make sure to specifically mention the networking components and explain how to join or register for them. Audiences are still figuring their way around the various platforms and formats of virtual conferences, so it’s a good idea to make it as easy as possible for them to join a networking session.

3.           If possible, curate the attendee list of a networking event. Ideally, try to keep a balance of “regulars” and “newbies,” so that you don’t have 7-8 pals catching up with a couple of strangers staying on mute in the sidelines. Try not to have an obvious “odd man out” such as an early career researcher among a bunch of tenured professors, or a single non-native English speaker in a group of native English speakers.

4.           Get your timing right: for discussion to be meaningful, attendees need at least one hour. But after 90 minutes, serious “Zoom fatigue” can kick in.

5.           Set informal guidelines in both a pre-event email and at the start of the meeting. Since there will always be newcomers, it’s best to spell out clearly what topic(s) can be discussed, what an attendee needs to do if they’re leaving early, etc.

6.           Start the session 2-5 minutes early so that early birds can join. But keep your main icebreaker for 1-2 minutes after the event’s official start time, so that you have maximum participation. It’s also a good idea to choose a conversation starter that doesn’t specifically have to do with an attendee’s title, institute, or country. 

7. Choose a platform that enables attendees to create their own meetings and breakout sessions. In offline events, attendees serendipitously connect with each other and choose to engage with different people on a one-on-one basis. Having some semblance of this in a virtual meeting will improve engagement.

Conclusion

Although many societies have planned in-person conferences and congresses in 2022, the old status quo is unlikely to return: societies have realized the scope for a virtual component to an in-person event and even a series of virtual events to complement a single, big in-person meeting. Virtual networking events, though not interchangeable with in-person networking, have their own advantages. For instance, organizers can split participants into random groups online to promote mixing, whereas in offline conferences, attendees focus on connecting with either known faces or acknowledged leaders. Furthermore, in conferences of the future, virtual attendees should not be made to feel like second-class citizens. Hence, conference organizers would do well to actively improve their virtual networking components, rather than assume that only the in-person attendees have networking needs. 

The post Seven Ways to Improve Your Virtual Networking Event appeared first on CACTUS.

Make Students Aware of Your Benefits

Students need to know how joining a society will benefit them directly. Societies need to cater directly to students’ various needs, to build a thriving pipeline of younger members. For instance, the Academy of Management’s Doctoral Student Development Program offers student members access to videos on sophisticated research methods and data analysis techniques, as well as video lectures. Programs or schemes targeted towards students, especially undergraduates or recent graduates, should be promoted through channels popular to their generation (e.g., TikTok rather than Facebook).

Enable Practitioners to Apply Research

Healthcare practitioners join societies to access research that can benefit them in their daily clinical practice. Societies can best meet this need by providing easily digestible summaries of the voluminous literature they produce, so that busy practitioners can stay updated without devoting a significant amount of time to reading. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) catered to this need by partnering with Impact Science to develop concise and attractively designed visual summaries of multiple oncology papers, intended for clinicians. As part of this collaboration, ASCO’s 60-page annual report was distilled into a 3-min video.

Help Researchers Stay Updated

A fundamental need of a society’s researcher members is to stay abreast of latest developments in the field. With many researchers working from home due to lockdowns in various parts of the world, Societies need to make sure their peer-reviewed content is easy to access and consume even outside the traditional university/institutional environment.

Help Early Career Researchers Advance

Early career researchers account for a large portion of the academic workforce, but society leadership is generally dominated by senior researchers. One way societies can retain early career researchers as members is by offering them opportunities to lead, share their opinions, and influence Society decisions. For instance, the American Society for Cell Biology instituted COMPASS (Committee for Postdocs and Students) to help young scientists build connections within the Society, network with policymakers and leaders, enhance their skills and expertise, and advance in their careers. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics has set up PharmTalk, a platform to inform young researchers about career options and share best practices.   

Get Creative With Membership Fees

Although you may feel your fees are priced reasonably, your calculations are probably based on “normal” (i.e. pre-pandemic) times. When faced with budget cuts, job insecurity, or other financial constraints, your members will probably re-evaluate whether their society memberships are financially worthwhile. Now’s the time to explore affiliate or loyalty programs if you haven’t done so before: for example,  the American Chemical Society offers existing members a one-year waiver on their dues, as well as special waivers or discounts for not just student members but also those pausing their careers to care for their families, those who are disabled, and those serving in the US Armed Forces.

Foster Connections Among Members

It’s an understatement to say that all types of members are probably craving more connection with their peers this year. Even those fortunate enough to return to their workplace have to grapple with new travel restrictions, which prevent them from attending conferences to network as they used to. While virtual and hybrid (online/offline) conferences will likely dominate the scene in 2022, Societies can host various large and small virtual networking events throughout the year. For instance, AHRA (American Healthcare Radiology Administrators) offers both members and non-members the opportunity to host a free virtual networking event, while providing logistical and marketing support.

Conclusion

Owing to the pandemic, the needs and environment of society members have changed, often drastically. Successful societies recognize and adapt to these changing needs, ensuring they are relevant and valuable for all member segments in the long run.

The post Growing and Retaining Membership in 2022: What Societies Need to Do Differently appeared first on CACTUS.

Is TikTok a waste of time? Something for bored teens? The numbers say otherwise. Let’s look at what makes TikTok such a powerful communication tool.

What is TikTok?

With 60% of the user base belonging to GenZ, TikTok is primarily video-based like YouTube. The maximum length of a video that can be uploaded to the platform is 60 seconds. Videos created by other users, known as tiktoks, appear on a user’s “For You” page according to TikTok’s algorithms. Users have the option of recording themselves alongside an audio clip. Tiktoks can be reposted on other social media platforms, but some like Instagram actively discourage this practice.

TikTok v/s. Other Social Media Apps

Facebook: Long considered the preferred social media platform, Facebook lost out to TikTok in 2021 in terms of time spent per user. Despite the erstwhile social media giant being able to host all kinds of content, including video stories, the platform has declining growth among younger users in the US, its oldest market.

Twitter: Twitter is primarily considered the go-to platform for news and updates as well as discussions and commentaries on public affairs despite having multimedia upload features. This gives Twitter an edge over TikTok, especially in terms of grabbing the attention of journalists, policymakers, and public officials.

Instagram: Both TikTok and Instagram work best on smartphones. Instagram has been around longer than TikTok and allows sharing of images and GIFs in addition to videos (though the time limit on Instagram reels is 30 seconds). Instagram wins over TikTok in terms of being more business-friendly, offering users the option of creating a professional account and also offers a Business Tools feature, which makes content promotion easier.

YouTube: Before the rise of TikTok, YouTube was the undisputed leader of video and video marketing. It still retains a key advantage over TikTok: there is no time limit on YouTube videos. This enables the creation of more in-depth videos as well as more opportunities to build brand awareness or gain audience trust. 

TikTok for Science Communication

Considering TikTok’s younger user base, it’s not surprising that the platform has been used to inform and educate high school and undergraduate students. There are tiktoks explaining chemistry concepts, generating excitement around marine biology, and helping engineers upskill. Universities like the University of Victoria  and Syracuse University have used TikTok for virtual campus tours and online wellness kits. In the US, Black creators have used TikTok to spread awareness of Black history (but TikTok has also been criticized for devaluing Black creators and unfairly censoring material related to the #BlackLivesMatter movement).

TikTok has also been useful in public health education. Individual doctors have created tiktoks explaining topics as diverse as the dangers of vaping and ways to improve gut health. Further, TikTok has had some success in destigmatizing mental health among men. Team Halo, a group of scientists and healthcare professionals working to combat Covid-related misinformation, have successfully used TikTok to combat vaccine misinformation, encourage minority communities to participate in vaccine trials, and reassure the public about vaccine side effects. The US government has followed suit, enlisting TikTok influencers in campaigns to get Gen Zers vaccinated. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of TikTok for Science Communication

Here are some factors to consider when choosing to include TikTok in science communication initiatives.

1. Engagement: The amount of time users spend on TikTok, particularly in the US, is increasing. For example, the average time per month spent on Tiktok was 442.9 minutes in October 2019, which increased to 858 minutes by March 2020.
2. Audience reach: Most TikTok users are Gen Z. In the US, around 30% of its users are 10-19 years old. TikTok is available in 75 languages across >150 countries including China (where platforms like Facebook and Twitter are banned).
3. Content format: TikTok primarily caters to smartphone users; hence, videos in the vertical format perform better than videos shot horizontally. The ideal aspect ratio (i.e., the relation between width and height) is 9:16, as for a standard smartphone screen. The time limit for videos is 60 seconds, though TikTok is experimenting currently with a 3-minute length.
4. Legal constraints: TikTok is currently banned in India and Pakistan. It has also been intermittently blocked in Indonesia and Bangladesh. While the Trump administration attempted to ban TikTok in the US in June 2020, President Biden revoked this order in June 2021.

Conclusion

Like it or not, TikTok has a large and growing audience in the US market. While it definitely shouldn’t be the sole (or even predominant) social channel for your digital content strategy, don’t overlook it when determining your social media mix or when it comes to social listening. Tiktok could be a useful platform for campaigns targeting younger members and early career researchers.

The post Should Your Society Take TikTok Seriously? appeared first on CACTUS.

1. Video recordings of events

If an event is solely livestreamed, it is accessible mostly to those in the right time zone, with good Internet connectivity, or with highly flexible schedules. Posting video recordings after the livestreamed event increases access for people in other time zones and countries, those who can’t afford time off during the workday to attend the event, those caring for young children during the day, etc.

2. Pre-recorded speeches

Lack of diversity in panels has been an ongoing concern. In-person conferences are often marked by “manels”: panels with heavy male representation. Having speeches pre-recorded, rather than livestreamed, opens up opportunities on panels for researchers around the world, especially those with poor Internet connectivity as well as those who can’t take time off from other responsibilities (e.g., teaching, childcare) to livestream. In other words, by allowing panelists to record their speeches beforehand, conference organizers can ensure that diverse backgrounds and perspectives are represented in every panel. 

3. Subtitles and transcripts

Adding subtitles, captions, and transcripts to videos makes the material more accessible to not just disabled people but also non-native English speakers, who could be unfamiliar with the speaker’s accent.

4. Chat rooms and forums

In offline conferences, men are known to take the lead in asking questions of speakers and general interactions. A lot of networking at conventional in-person conferences happens at events like happy hours in a local pub or an evening banquet. The informal social groups that form at these events are often inaccessible to female researchers and those from racial minorities. Virtual chat rooms and forums devoted to specific topics are one way of levelling the playing field. When commenters know that their comments could be saved (and scrutinized later), they are less likely to be overtly sexist, misogynist, or racist.

5. Plain language summaries

Climate science, ecology, management, gender studies, and even medicine are fields that interest a wide section of the population, not just those with PhDs. To make research findings accessible to non-specialist audiences—including patient advocacy groups, civil society groups, journalists, and even undergraduate students—conference organizers could prepare and disseminate plain language summaries (PLS). A PLS is a brief summary of a research paper, written in language that is easily accessible to non-specialists.

6. Flexible payment options

Conventional conferences typically had a standard registration fee (and perhaps separate fees for additional pre-conference sessions). This resulted in researchers paying for sessions or events that they weren’t actually interested in, besides also bearing costs of travel, accommodation, visas and foreign exchange, etc. Hence, conference attendance was harder for early career researchers or those from the Global South, who had limited funding and grants. The online format enables individual purchase of specific content pieces or access to chat rooms and other virtual events. Thus, this option is more cost-effective and accessible.  

Conclusion

The year 2020 saw not only a meteoric rise in the number of virtual-only academic conferences, but also a renewed interest in diversity and inclusion, especially in the US. With continuing travel bans and fears of further waves of Covid-19, virtual conferences are likely to remain mainstream in the immediate future, and hybrid (online + offline) models are likely to become popular even after the world returns to “normal.” Hence, conference organizers will find it worthwhile to invest in means to promote diversity and inclusion at virtual or hybrid conferences, especially through content.

Need help transitioning to new content formats? Impact Science offers a wide range of content and marketing solutions for your virtual conference. Contact us: request@impact.science

The post Not Just the “Old Boys Club”: Cater to the Content Needs of a Diverse Audience for Your Virtual Academic Conference appeared first on CACTUS.

Different education levels

Research is not meant for just the well-educated. For example, there’s no disease that exclusively affects university graduates. Terms like “control group” seem simple English but are in fact unlikely to be clear to people who have never been to college. PLS(Lay summary) can help readers with limited education get an accurate idea of what happened during the study and how the findings affect them. In medicine and public health, misinformation and distortion of scientific evidence has serious consequences for people’s lives and livelihoods, as seen in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Different academic backgrounds

Conventional journal articles are often jargon-heavy and hence difficult to understand for researchers from other disciplines. PLS(Lay summaries) make it easier for any researcher to grasp the key findings of a study, reducing the time and effort spent in acquiring and assimilating information. In this way, PLS(Lay summary) can foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

Different geographies and language capabilities

English is not the first or native language for a significant proportion of the world’s population. It is not even used for higher education in many countries. A Society rooted in the US or UK might find it difficult to meaningfully engage with people in large parts of Asia, South America, and Africa. PLS(Lay summaries) are not only quicker for such audiences to process in English itself, but are also easier than full-length papers to be translated on the spot with free online tools or apps.

Different financial capabilities

Academics often have access to vast university libraries and institutional accounts with major publishers. They find it difficult to imagine having to spend a significant amount out of pocket to just be updated about their fields. When PLS(Lay summaries) are published outside any article paywall, key scientific evidence becomes available to anyone with Internet access, regardless of their financial status.

In the current COVID-19 pandemic, public trust in science has sharply declined, even as the role of scientists has become increasingly critical. Journals are Societies’ most-used platform for sharing research advances, but journal articles are not the public’s preferred source of information, especially in healthcare. Technical, convoluted language deters non-specialists from reading journal articles. PLS(Lay summary), by making research more accessible, help Societies inform, influence, and engage with diverse population groups.

The post Is Your Society Trying to Increase Diversity and Inclusion? Here’s a Simple Tool appeared first on CACTUS.

And yet, we have adapted, and how! With the rising popularity of the work-from-home, apps, software, and technology that make the telecommute life easier have also gained footing. Even in academia, the work, socializing, and networking of researchers has been reshaped to adapt. Work, life, and your research must go on.

Research Dissemination in the Pre-pandemic Era

As any academic would know, research isn’t truly complete if it isn’t disseminated. You’ve answered your hypotheses and found the solution to the most pressing questions in your field, but until the world knows about what you’ve found, there are very small chances that your work will grow organically.

Now, in the ancient (read pre-pandemic) days, the age-old tradition of networking, and specifically, research posters, were the solution to this dilemma.

A research poster is a widely used format of research sharing in the academic community; most research conferences are sprinkled with academics explaining their research printed on posters in a clear and succinct format. The poster summarizes research information in a concise and attractive visual layout to attract and engage audience, and to generate discussions.

As a researcher, you probably have faint memories of attending conferences and presenting your research printed on towering vinyl posters to other experts and enthusiasts, and kickstarting conversations that lead to ideas and collaborations that guide you to take the next step. How do you get the same benefits and experiences now? As with most other dilemmas, the technology has a solution for this as well. Through internet, most conferences are now moving online.

So what better way to tell share your research, than through virtual posters?

Bringing Your Research Online

Virtual posters are the best of both worlds: they have the details and attractive layout of a traditional research poster, the widely recognized format used in the academic community to communicate the research in a digestible format, and a dissemination-friendly format for ease of access and sharing. You can build your own virtual poster using any software as simple as PowerPoint or as detail rich as Adobe Suite.

Virtual Posters and their Benefits

•  All important information is understandable at a glance.
•  The poster leads with an attractive and catchy title to draw your audience’s attention.
• The textual content is kept to a minimum; imagery and visual elements dominate the scene and are used effectively to tell the complete story.
• As a bonus, a QR code redirects the reader to a webpage or your paper with further information about research findings or data sets.

But these posters aren’t limited to your conferences! These indispensable research dissemination assets can be shared on social media for promoting and further disseminating your research, for all your colleagues who couldn’t make it to the conference, and for the perusal of members of the general public who take an interest in your field. You can also use them to display your research on your website as an attractive visual alternative to just listing the citation of your paper.

The vaccine, and a potential end to the pandemic, is on the horizon, but for all intents and purposes, the culture has irreversibly shifted. Remote working culture is likely to continue for the unforeseen future. Your research is ready for the world, and you don’t need to hold it back any longer!

At Impact Science, we assist researchers with the creation of customized research communication solutions for your conference needs. Reach out to see how our virtual conference solutions can help you today!

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For more information on Impact Science services, write to us at request@impact.science.

The post Make the Best of This New Virtual World with Virtual Posters appeared first on CACTUS.

Now for the uninitiated: so, what exactly is a podcast? A podcast is an audio programme, similar to a radio programme, that typically involves an easy-going but engaging conversation among people on a particular topic. A podcast series is usually hosted by one person, with one or more “guest” speakers on each episode. The conversational and (largely) informal style of communication suits the palate of the masses, rendering it among the easiest forms of content consumption. Most podcasts require no subscriptions and are freely available on most internet or app platforms—which means that they’re all readily accessible.

All of the above metaphorical ingredients make up an impeccable recipe for a public engagement strategy or even thematic content campaigns. One question: is it possible to have an engaging science/academic podcast, then? The answer is a resounding ‘YES’. In the following sections, we’ll see exactly how.

Podcasts and the Scientific Community

First let’s look at an example of how a podcast can help the scientific community.

“Scientific discourse is often belied as dry and stale; a block of indomitable, indecipherable information buttressed with vague language, passive voice, countless equations, and overly constructed, borderline-run-on statements that seem to drag on and on and on…”

Notice the problem with this statement? It suffers from the same issue that it describes. If a scientist communicates their science and no one understands it, has it actually been communicated?

The current pandemic has all but reinforced the long-buried notion: what science needs the most in modern times is effective communication and “storytelling.” Non-traditional content formats such as podcasts can help bridge this divide by virtue of their multimedia-friendly and conversational format.

So, the next question: Is anyone doing good science podcasts? If yes, how? The next half of this article attempts to answer these questions.

Popular Academic Podcasts

Ever since the turn of this century, academic podcasts have been explored, to varying extents. Quite a few studies have examined and verified the tremendous utility of podcasts in an academic setting—either from a coursework or discussion-related perspective or as a science communication tool. And over the years, several academic podcasts have gained widespread popularity, some of them even endorsed and run by national organizations and societies.

Here, I attempt to list some of the most popular academic podcasts, most of which are also widely available across popular platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

• The University of Oxford Podcasts: One of the most exhaustive podcast series, the University of Oxford podcast features researchers and academicians from the university covering a wide range of topics, right from green chemistry, botany, and natural history to literature, calligraphy, and entrepreneurship.
• Pod Academy: Pod Academy is an independent, non-profit podcast platform established by enthusiastic academics, journalists, and IT professionals. With an engagement-oriented interface, the Pod Academy podcast covers intriguing new research topics from the fields of Arts and Culture, Business and Economics, Science and Environment, and Humanities and Social Sciences.
• The Naked Scientists: One of my personal favorites, The Naked Scientists is an award-winning science radio talk show broadcast in England by BBC and BBC Radio 5 Live and distributed worldwide on popular music and audio platforms as a science podcast. First started in 2001, the show deals with compelling and contemporary topics and hosts some exceptionally enthusiastic and eloquent researchers.
• Radiolab: One of the most revered podcasts around the world, the Radiolab podcast is an award-winning deep journalistic take on though-provoking topics in science, philosophy, and ethics. Radiolab is known for its unique sound design and compositions.
• Discovery by BBC World Service: BBC as a content platform needs no introduction. Check this podcast out for yourself.
• StarTalk by Neil DeGrasse Tyson: The StarTalk podcast network by world-renowned astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson bridges the intersection between science, pop culture, and comedy with clarity, humor, and passion.

An Impact Science Collaboration: Podcasts by Brill

Impact Science recently collaborated with Brill—one of the largest publishers of humanities research in the world—to produce their fortnightly podcast, titled Humanities Matter by Brill. One of the few specialized podcasts run by any Humanities publisher, Humanities Matter by Brill, currently hosted by Leigh Giangreco, invites authors, journal editors, and researchers to talk about—using examples from their research and works—why it is crucial for society to continue investing in research in the humanities and social sciences. The podcast also enabled Brill to strengthen their #HumanitiesMatter campaign and blog, and also ensured far-reaching social media outreach!

Simple Guidelines for Podcast Production

How easy or difficult is it to actually produce a podcast? Well, the answer depends on the objective of the podcast and the desired end result. As the world is adjusting to the new normal of remote working, I will only touch upon the requirements for a remotely recorded podcast. Typically, setting up a science podcast would require:

• A research topic, book, or research manuscript — the basis of each episode
• An overarching theme or objective – to decide the reach, target audience, and budget
• A host for the podcast – Someone who loves talking to different people and is comfortable talking about a wide range of topics
• Recording essentials – A basic studio-quality microphone (preferable), a silent room, good internet connectivity
• Recording platform – Zencastr,  SquadCast, or even Zoom
• Audio editing tool – Hindenburg,  Audacity, or Adobe Audition
• Supporting text – Podcast description, graphical imagery, episode summaries, transcript availability, etc.
• A podcast content management tool – PodBean, Libsyn or Buzzsprout

Impact Science’s academic podcast production services can help you get started with your own research podcast. Impact Science possesses material and expertise in all of the essentials mentioned above. From scheduling podcast releases on different platforms to tracking podcast statistics such as number of listeners, number of downloads, user base specific to geography, etc. they’ve got it covered!

Intrigued by the prospect of having your own academic podcast yet? Get in touch with Impact Science at request@impact.science to know more!

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Sources:

• Carina Rampelt. A beginner’s guide to academic podcasting. Available at: https://blog.globalacademyjobs.com/a-beginners-guide-to-academic-podcasting/. Accessed October 13, 2020
• Thomas Frank, 2020. Listen and Learn: The 40 Best Educational Podcasts in 2020. Available at: https://collegeinfogeek.com/best-podcasts/. Accessed October 13, 2020
• Peter Ractham and Xuesong Xhang, 2006. Podcasting in academia: a new knowledge management paradigm within academic settings. Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGMIS CPR conference on computer personnel research: Forty four years of computer personnel research: achievements, challenges & the future. Pages 314-317
• The Official PLOS Blog, 2016. The Importance of Storytelling in Science. PLOS Blogs. Available at: https://theplosblog.plos.org/2016/12/the-importance-of-storytelling-in-science/#comment-5510. Accessed October 13, 2020

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Scholarly publishing, meant for driving discovery and innovation, has ironically lacked innovation in terms of publishing and dissemination. The consumption of even cutting-edge research has been largely limited to the traditional long-form journal article with the odd article in the newspaper, as opposed to impacting society in the ways it was perhaps meant to.

While it is important that research published in journals doesn’t stray from what we know and are familiar with, the fact is that the format in which it is presented has largely remained the same for a while now. And, this does call for some thinking. For example, the need for limiting the number of articles in each issue seems at odds with how the consumption of published research largely happens online. But, that discussion is for another time. The focus here is research discoverability.

Although newer formats such as infographics and videos can supplement, as opposed to replacing the ‘research manuscript,’ they could also potentially help researchers to zero in on the specific aspects of their work. A good infographic, in that regard, can summarize an entire research paper and be consumed much faster than a 6000-word manuscript.

In other words, a researcher could browse through, say, 20 infographics much faster than the same number of manuscripts to decide on which study is more allied with their research interests.

The tweet below shows how a well-done infographic can visually summarize a study effectively.

How can you optimize chemical reactions more efficiently?
In our latest publication @ChemicalScience, we present an algorithmic workflow to optimize seven process parameters of a homogeneous catalytic system with minimal experimental effort.
https://t.co/tg2jXRqOYS pic.twitter.com/iH9UGXXadf

— Trapp Research Group (@TrappLab) November 13, 2019

The key is to use the right keywords and graphical design elements and keep the target audience in mind when designing the infographic.

The use of newer effective formats in research communication might aid in enhancing the discoverability of more relevant studies for researchers, especially those working in multidisciplinary fields. Infographics can help highlight the relevance of a finding, which is a lever of discoverability. There could be various other tools that could potentially be employed to influence various other levers of discoverability.

Think of why posters are used in conferences instead of a snapshot of an Abstract? It’s because visual and animated formats go a long way in not only communicating research and engaging the general public and audiences from associated fields but also help with the consumption of research output.

On a separate but related note, abstracts have seen some level of innovation with the emergence of graphical abstracts, video abstracts, and tweetable abstracts, to name a few. Importantly, abstracts are central to the discoverability of a study. These newer formats might have enhanced discoverability, but there is scope for improvement.

Video abstracts, for example, serve as “audio-visual summaries” of not just the abstract but the entire research paper along with practical applications. Examples of such video summaries are already out there in the public domain. This video on habitual toe-walking in children is a personal favorite.

I found this video to be particularly interesting because my nephew had this nagging habit of toe-walking and wouldn’t give it up! We were all concerned about how this habit would affect the development of his ankles. This video was quite reassuring, and as it turns out, my nephew did spontaneously cease toe-walking by the time he was 10! In short, this video is just one example of how more visual representations of research output can touch lives around the globe.

Video summaries of high-impact research papers or projects could even include the proposed impact on society and show how a study has achieved its goals in terms of making a difference to the world we live in.

This, in turn, would help enhance the “real-world impact” of research. Moreover, easy-to-understand research summaries encourage dissemination beyond the realms of traditional stakeholders within the scientific community. Dr. Pavlo Basilinskyy’s research on helping cars talk better to humans is a very good example of how video summaries can be employed to help funders effectively publicize the impact of the research they sponsor.

Furthermore, David Wojick, a consultant in the scholarly publishing industry, mentioned in passing that for these newer formats to gain more popularity and acceptance, they would have to be highly standardized—just as journal articles are—so people can quickly find the information they are looking for.

That said, it’ll be a while for these newer formats to gain a foothold in science communication. But given how these newer formats make a considerable difference when it comes to communicating real-life impact, it might be safe to say that science communication is ripe for a paradigm change.To find out more about how Impact Science helps journals, publishers and societies, click here.

Write to us at request@impact.science to learn how we can help your research come alive!

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