Science Communication Resources for Scientists

Communicating with the Media

• AAAS Media Interview Tips (PDF)
• Dean, Cornelia. Am I Making Myself Clear? A Scientist’s Guide to Talking to the Public. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2009.
• Hayes, Richard and Grossman, Daniel. A Scientist’s Guide To Talking With The Media: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 2006.
• Zielinska, E. “Why Trust a Reporter?” The Scientist 24: 40 (1 Sept. 2010).

Social Media for Scientists

• Bik, H.M. and Goldstein, M.C. (2013) An introduction to social media for scientists. PLOS Biology 4: e1001535
• Darling, E.S., Shiffman, D., Cote, I.M., and Drew, J.A. (2013) The role of Twitter in the life cycle of a scientific publication. Ideas in Ecol. Evol. 6: 32-43, doi: 10.4033/iee.2013.6.6.f

Creating a Compelling Talk

• Burroughs Wellcome Fund – Communicating Science: Giving Talks
• Olsen, Randy. Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in An Age of Style. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2009.
• Schatz, G. (2003) How (Not) to Give a Seminar FEBS Letters 534: 5-6.(PDF)

Science Communication for Scientists: Training and Resources

• Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers – Created by the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology and the National Science Foundation, this website’s resources include webinars, how-to tips for media interviews, strategies for identifying public outreach opportunities, and more.
• AAAS Force For Science Toolkit, 2017
• Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science
• Annual workshop at MBL: “Writing About Science for the Public”
• ComSciCon: Annual communicating science workshop for graduate students (Harvard University)
• Broader Impacts Group (organized by MIT-WHOI graduate students)
• Aldo Leopold Leadership Program

Science Literacy;  Public Perceptions of Science

• Pew Research Center Reports: Science and Innovation

The Science of Science Communication:

References from Liz Neeley, Executive Director, The Story Collider

• Appel, Markus, and Tobias Richter. “Transportation and Need for Affect in Narrative Persuasion: A Mediated Moderation Model.” Media Psychology 13, no. 2 (May 28, 2010): 101–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213261003799847.
• Berger, Jonah A., and Katherine L. Milkman. “Social Transmission, Emotion, and the Virality of Online Content.” SSRN ELibrary, December 25, 2009. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1528077.
• Dahlstrom, M. F. “The Role of Causality in Information Acceptance in Narratives: An Example From Science Communication.” Communication Research 37, no. 6 (December 1, 2010): 857–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210362683.
• “Using Narratives and Storytelling to Communicate Science with Nonexpert Audiences.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. Supplement_4 (September 16, 2014): 13614–20. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320645111.
• Dahlstrom, Michael F. “The Moderating Influence of Narrative Causality as an Untapped Pool of Variance for Narrative Persuasion.” Communication Research 42, no. 6 (2015): 779–795.
• “The Persuasive Influence of Narrative Causality: Psychological Mechanism, Strength in Overcoming Resistance, and Persistence Over Time.” Media Psychology 15, no. 3 (July 2012): 303–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2012.702604.
• Dahlstrom, Michael F., and Shirley S. Ho. “Ethical Considerations of Using Narrative to Communicate Science.” Science Communication, 2012, 1075547012454597.
• Fiske, S. T., and C. Dupree. “Gaining Trust as Well as Respect in Communicating to Motivated Audiences about Science Topics.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. Supplement_4 (September 16, 2014): 13593–97. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317505111.
• Fiske, Susan T, Amy J C Cuddy, and Peter Glick. “Universal Dimensions of Social Cognition: Warmth and Competence.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11, no. 2 (February 2007): 77–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.005.
• Hasson, Uri, Asif A. Ghazanfar, Bruno Galantucci, Simon Garrod, and Christian Keysers. “Brain-to-Brain Coupling: A Mechanism for Creating and Sharing a Social World.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16, no. 2 (February 2012): 114–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.12.007.
• Hay, David B., Darren Williams, Daniel Stahl, and Richard J. Wingate. “Using Drawings of the Brain Cell to Exhibit Expertise in Neuroscience: Exploring the Boundaries of Experimental Culture: IMAGES OF NEUROSCIENCE EXPERTISE.” Science Education 97, no. 3 (May 2013): 468–91. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21055.
• Heider, Fritz, and Marianne Simmel. “An Experimental Study of Apparent Behavior.” The American Journal of Psychology 57, no. 2 (April 1944): 243. https://doi.org/10.2307/1416950.
• Hillier, Ann, Ryan P. Kelly, and Terrie Klinger. “Narrative Style Influences Citation Frequency in Climate Change Science.” Edited by Gary S. Bilotta. PLOS ONE 11, no. 12 (December 15, 2016): e0167983. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167983.
• Jee, Benjamin D., Dedre Gentner, David H. Uttal, Bradley Sageman, Kenneth Forbus, Cathryn A. Manduca, Carol J. Ormand, Thomas F. Shipley, and Basil Tikoff. “Drawing on Experience: How Domain Knowledge Is Reflected in Sketches of Scientific Structures and Processes.” Research in Science Education 44, no. 6 (December 2014): 859–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-014-9405-2.
• Kawakami, Naoaki, and Fujio Yoshida. “Perceiving a Story Outside of Conscious Awareness: When We Infer Narrative Attributes from Subliminal Sequential Stimuli.” Consciousness and Cognition 33 (May 2015): 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2014.12.001.
• Kinnebrock, Susanne, and Helena Bilandzic. “How to Make a Story Work: Introducing the Concept of Narrativity into Narrative Persuasion.” In American Psychologist. Dresden, 2006. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/46/3/187/.
• Moyer-Gusé, Emily, and Katherine Dale. “Narrative Persuasion Theories.” In The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects, edited by Patrick Rössler, Cynthia A. Hoffner, and Liesbet van Zoonen, 1–11. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2017. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0082.
• Nomura, Ryota, Kojun Hino, Makoto Shimazu, Yingzong Liang, and Takeshi Okada. “Emotionally Excited Eyeblink-Rate Variability Predicts an Experience of Transportation into the Narrative World.” Frontiers in Psychology 06 (April 20, 2015). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00447.
• Nomura, Ryota, Yingzong Liang, and Takeshi Okada. “Interactions among Collective Spectators Facilitate Eyeblink Synchronization.” Edited by Jun Ma. PLOS ONE 10, no. 10 (October 19, 2015): e0140774. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140774.
• Reagan, Andrew J., Lewis Mitchell, Dilan Kiley, Christopher M. Danforth, and Peter Sheridan Dodds. “The Emotional Arcs of Stories Are Dominated by Six Basic Shapes.” ArXiv Preprint ArXiv:1606.07772, 2016. https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.07772.
• Schinske, J. N., H. Perkins, A. Snyder, and M. Wyer. “Scientist Spotlight Homework Assignments Shift Students Stereotypes of Scientists and Enhance Science Identity in a Diverse Introductory Science Class.” Cell Biology Education 15, no. 3 (September 1, 2016): ar47–ar47. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-01-0002.
• Stephens, G. J., L. J. Silbert, and U. Hasson. “Speaker-Listener Neural Coupling Underlies Successful Communication.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, no. 32 (August 10, 2010): 14425–30. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008662107.