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COMMUNITY:
Mass Media Article

Is science communication its own field?

September 21, 2010 | Media and Technology
The present comment examines to what extent science communication has attained the status of an academic discipline and a distinct research field, as opposed to the common view that science communication is merely a sub-discipline of media studies, sociology of science or history of science. Against this background, the authors of this comment chart the progress science communication has made as an emerging subject over the last 50 years in terms of a number of measures. Although discussions are still ongoing about the elements that must be present to constitute a legitimate disciplinary field, we show here that science communication meets four key elements that constitute an analytical framework to classify academic disciplines: the presence of a community; a history of inquiry; a mode of inquiry that defines how data is collected; and the existence of a communications network.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Toss Gascoigne
    Author
    PCST
  • Cheng Donghong
    Author
    China Association for Science and Technology
  • Michel Claessens
    Author
    Free University of Brussels
  • Jenni Metcalfe
    Author
    University of Queensland
  • Bernard Schiele
    Author
    UQAM
  • Shi Shunke
    Author
    China Research Institute for Science Popularization
  • Citation

    ISSN : 1824-2049
    Publication Name: Journal of Science Communication
    Volume: 9
    Number: 3
    Resource Type: Reference Materials
    Discipline: General STEM
    Audience: Scientists
    Environment Type: Media and Technology

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