Credit: Rhoda Baer
Academic researchers who talk to the press and use social media are more likely than their less communicative peers to have their work cited, a new study suggests.
The research revealed a connection between h-index—a measure of the quality of a researcher’s work and influence—and whether the scientists interact with reporters and get mentioned on Twitter.
The results appear in Journalism & Mass Communications Quarterly.
“I’ve been in science communication for a while now, and I am really seeing a change—especially among the younger scientists—in their willingness to share their work,” said study author Dominique Brossard, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Attention from reporters is good news for h-index, Dr Brossard noted. But couple that with attention on Twitter, and you see a more pronounced spike in reputation.
“If you talk to reporters and you tweet about your research, your work is more likely to be cited than people who do one or the other,” she said.
That sort of activity hasn’t always been encouraged, Dr Brossard pointed out. Any distraction from a researcher’s work can draw criticism as a waste of a precious resource. But Dr Brossard hopes a new understanding of the relationship between research and communicating with the public can change that.
“What this shows us is that sharing your science with the public is not hurting the science by stealing time,” she said. “If the goal is to encourage people, ultimately, to be productive scientists, and if directors of labs are discouraging people from engaging in this activity, they’re actually hurting the science itself. Because people who do this are cited more often in scientific journals, [and] they’re making science accessible to broader audiences at the same time.”
Social media use is rising in other professional circles as well, according to Michael Xenos, PhD, also of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“As in other areas, such as politics for example, social media was once met with skepticism but is increasingly part of the culture,” he said. “Just like it became the norm there, our research shows it may one day become the norm in science.”
Even if you flip the connection between social media attention and h-index on its head, it’s still worth taking to heart, according to the researchers.
“The counter argument is that it may be just the other way around—that it may just be the big names that get mentions,” said study author Dietram A. Scheufele, PhD, also of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“But then, the lesson should be that the most successful people in your field are also the ones that are good at getting outside the ivory tower. That should be something to emulate.”
