Editorials

Sameera A Gunawardena, Dineshani Hettiarachchi

“In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs.” – Sir Francis Darwin

A fundamental quality in scientists and researchers is the desire to discover new things; bridge the gap between the known and unknown. To the scientist there is perhaps no greater sense of satisfaction and pride than seeing the impact of this new knowledge being put to use by another and it is no secret that many scientists desire due recognition and fame for their work. All throughout history there have been myriads of scientists who have contributed to enhancing scientific knowledge, and even today many new discoveries are being made by eminent researchers globally. The impact of their work is usually duly recognised in scientific fora through citation counts, h-index, RG scores, i10 index or even through research awards and felicitations. However, if the general public were asked to name the great scientists in contemporary society, very few would reveal any recognition of today’s eminent researchers.

Some believe that today’s scientists lack the originality and ingenuity of the past greats like Galileo, Darwin and Newton who were bold enough to challenge widely held beliefs and prove them wrong . Others believe that scientific recognition today is measured more through the quantity of publications than actual societal impact . Thus the current generations of scientists and researchers are highly engrossed in the competition to generate more and more ‘publishable’ outputs in scientific journals. Perhaps it is this competitive trend, coupled with the pre-requisites in conforming to journal requirements and peer review policies, that has unfortunately blunted the ability of today’s scientist to engage in meaningful discourse with the public. It is truly worrying that many scholars, despite their scientific prowess, are unable to translate their work to the common man , . Some may fear that by engaging with the media or the public they will be quoted out of context or at times, their work will be used for the advancement of an outside agenda. As a result, most researchers tend to shy away from communicating their research discoveries with the public.

Consequentially, there has been a rise in science journalism over the last few decades, where many science magazines, websites and blogs attempt to communicate scientific findings to the public on behalf of the researchers. However, these sources often tend to sensationalise, over-simplify and sometimes misinterpret scientific findings. One need not look further than the current COVID-19 pandemic in realising just how poor the level of scientific communication to the public has been. A recent editorial in Nature Medicine, which highlighted the negative effects of scientific misinformation during the pandemic, drew attention to the need for training students and young researchers to be able to communicate effectively to a wide range of audiences from specialists to lay persons.

Thankfully, there is renewed interest among academic institutions, universities and colleges in arming the new generation of scientists with the necessary communication skills to disseminate their research to grass root levels of the society. Some institutions such as the Alan Alda center for communicating science (https://aldacenter.org/professional-development/stem.php) have been established to cater to training research degree students and post-doctoral scientists on effective public communication in science. Many universities with research degree programs have begun to incorporate evaluation of the research communication skills of their students in non-scientific fora, through competitive events like bus stop talks, 3-minute thesis presentations and assignments to generate a media news item from their research findings.

This research news portal of the Research Promotion and Facilitation Center of the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo is another step towards bridging this gap in scientific communication to the public. While enhancing the visibility of the numerous research activities that take place in this institution, this portal will also provide an opportunity for researchers to engage with the community outside their scientific fields and develop skills to communicate their findings effectively to non-scientific audiences. The key strategy of this research news portal is simplicity! The editorial committee is confident that this portal will generate a novel and refreshing scientific dialogue between the researcher and the general public while providing the researcher with due recognition for his work and the opportunity to convince the world of its importance.

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Scientists, keep an open line of communication with the public. Nat Med 26, 1495 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1111-1