Does Science Communication Enhance Researcher Impact? A Survey among Scientists at Spanish Universities

Does Science Communication Enhance Researcher Impact? A Survey among Scientists at Spanish Universities

Referencia

Alonso-Flores, J. y Moreno-Castro, C. (2018). Does Science Communication Enhance Researcher Impact? A Survey among Scientists at Spanish Universities. Journal of Education & Social Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2, June 2018. doi:10.30845/jesp.v5n2p5

Resumen

This study evaluates the perception among researchers at Spanish universities of the impact that science-related news published through institutional communications offices has on their research. An online survey was sent to 2,774 researchers at 20 Spanish universities, and a total of 602 responses to the questionnaire were received, reflecting a response rate of 21.70%. The data was processed using the statistical software SPSS. The results showed that two out of three (65.4%) reported some form of benefit; almost half (46.5%) said that thanks to this institutional communication their research was better known among colleagues; one in four (27.2%) said that they had given speeches on their line of research following the publication of news items, and one in five (20.9%) said they had been contacted by companies interested in their field of research.

Palabras clave

Science news, institutional communication, universities, impact of science journalism, public science communication