Scientific and Parascientific Communication

A special issue of Publications (ISSN 2304-6775).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 38047

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Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana. Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: scholarly communication; scientific digital discourse; English for academic purposes; intercultural rhetoric; corpus studies; genre theory

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana. Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: scientific digital communication; genre analysis; English for academic purposes; intercultural rhetoric; pragmatics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is an increasing need for scholars and scientists to not only conduct research that has a significant impact on society but also to communicate that research widely. Such research outreach contributes to disseminating and transferring new knowledge and, also, very importantly, to engaging wide, diverse audiences. Disseminating scientific knowledge and engaging the public is of paramount importance for funding and accountability reasons. As such, discursive practices have become more and more complex, multimodal, and multimedia-based for scholars and scientists. In addition, such dissemination frequently entails stakeholders and has the potential to blur the boundaries between expert and non-expert communication.

The existence of the Internet and of the various platforms it affords both responds and provides an answer to well-established and new social and communicative needs. As a result, scientific communication is currently shared to a great extent with peers through conventional genres (i.e., abstracts, research papers, book reviews, or reports) which may be reconfigured and reshaped in technology-mediated contexts. Such contexts also allow opening formal scientific publication to public viewing. Alongside this so-called “primary output” (Puschmann 2015), new ways, modes, and discourses are being used to bring science closer to a lay audience and to promote citizen participation. The affordances of existing and emergent platforms are fostering a change in audience roles, and with it, the erosion of boundaries between scientific communities and the general public, which entails disseminating scientific information and knowledge beyond the former (Trench 2008).

Within this context, we are witnessing the development of discursive practices which may be referred to as instances of “parascientific communication”. These practices go beyond the dichotomy between internal or expert (members of the scientific community) and external or non-expert (diverse publics) and transcend previously well-delimited communities and spheres of communication. Parascientific genres are evolving based on authoritative or expert knowledge (communicated through conventional, sanctioned scientific genres) but not subjected to the filters of internal, formal science communication (Kelly and Miller 2016).

With this Special Issue, we seek to respond to questions such as the following:

  • To what extent does parascientific communication differ from scientific communication? Which features characterize them?
  • Which new discoursal practices are emerging in response to boundary erosion in scientific communication? What do they entail? Who undertakes these? What functions do they fulfill?
  • Can well-established methodological approaches be useful and valid to explore digital communication, either scientific or parascientific? What new perspectives might contribute to the exploration of new practices?

We thus welcome contributions that address the analysis of scientific and parascientific communication taking one or several of the following theoretical and methodological perspectives, among which are included:

  • Genre Studies
  • Pragmatic Approaches
  • Multimodal Analysis
  • Ethnographic Explorations
  • Intercultural and Multilingual Approaches
  • Translation Studies

Dr. Pilar Mur-Dueñas
Dr. Rosa Lorés
Guest Editors

References

Kelly, A.R.; Miller, C.R. Intersections: Scientific and Parascientific Communication on the Internet. Science and the Internet: Communicating knowledge in a digital age. Gross, A., Buehl, J., Eds.; Baywood: Amityville, NY, USA, 2016; 221–245.

Puschmann, C. A Digital Mob in the Ivory Tower? Context Collapse in Scholarly Communication online. Discourse In and Through the Media: Recontextualizing and Reconceptualizing Expert Discourse. Bondi, M., Cacchiani, S., Mazzi, D. Eds.; Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2015; 22–45.

Trench, B. Internet—Turning Science Communication Inside‐Out? Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology. Bucchi, M., Trench, B. Eds.; Routledge: London, UK; New York, NY, USA, 2008; 185–198.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this Special Issue will be fully waived. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • digital scientific communication
  • digital parascientific communication
  • public communication of science
  • scientific discursive practices
  • expert/non-expert communities
  • erosion of audience boundaries
  • technology-mediated discourse
  • citizen science
  • knowledge dissemination

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 199 KiB  
Editorial
When Science Communication Becomes Parascience: Blurred Boundaries, Diffuse Roles
by Pilar Mur-Dueñas and Rosa Lorés
Publications 2022, 10(2), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10020014 - 24 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3077
Abstract
The communication of science goes hand in hand with technological development and, in general, with the need to apply scientific advancements to the improvement of human wellbeing [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

22 pages, 3404 KiB  
Article
Scientific Stylisation or the ‘Democracy Dilemma’ of Graphical Abstracts
by Carmen Sancho Guinda
Publications 2022, 10(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10010011 - 14 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4820
Abstract
The need for more democratic models of interaction between scientists and non-expert audiences, the current commodification of research and the advancements of digital affordances have recently given rise to new online genres for science dissemination, such as the graphical abstract, increasingly demanded by [...] Read more.
The need for more democratic models of interaction between scientists and non-expert audiences, the current commodification of research and the advancements of digital affordances have recently given rise to new online genres for science dissemination, such as the graphical abstract, increasingly demanded by high-impact journals despite its uncertain function. In this paper, I examine the problems posed by this hybrid genre as to the implementation of dialogical and more democratic models of science dissemination; namely, inferential confusion of concepts and narrative sequences, trivialisation and overall interpretive complexity, all of them caused or affected by visual stylisation. After scrutinising over 1000 graphical abstract samples from science blogs, research networks and random finds published in specialised high-rank international journals, I provide a taxonomy of stylisation and make the case for the explicit visual literacy training of students and scholars, as well as for a higher level of specification in the guidelines for potential authors of scientific journals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
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20 pages, 577 KiB  
Article
Dialogicity in Individual and Institutional Scientific Blogs
by Marina Bondi
Publications 2022, 10(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10010009 - 21 Feb 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4098
Abstract
The paper focuses on variation across institutional and individual scientific blogs, i.e., blogs that are managed by journals, magazines or associations involved in the dissemination of scientific information and blogs that are managed by individual researchers. Using comparable corpora of posts from different [...] Read more.
The paper focuses on variation across institutional and individual scientific blogs, i.e., blogs that are managed by journals, magazines or associations involved in the dissemination of scientific information and blogs that are managed by individual researchers. Using comparable corpora of posts from different scientific disciplines, look in particular at markers of dialogicity, i.e., the representation of participants (markers of self-reference, reader-reference, as well as representation of the scientific community and markers of attribution), markers of communicative action (organizational units and metastatements), and evaluative dialogue (evaluative lexis and dialogic contraction or expansion). Concordance analysis of keywords and key-phrases (as calculated by Wordsmith Tools 8.0) shows that blogs managed by individual scientists emphasize personal voice and interpersonal elements, while institutional blogs are comparatively more informational. Dialogicity markers are shown to contribute to defining how bloggers manage subjective and intersubjective positioning and construct their credibility, thus defining the nature of their relation to the audience and ultimately the functions of blogging. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
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16 pages, 1195 KiB  
Article
The Parascientific Communication around Didier Raoult’s Expertise and the Debates in the Media and on Digital Social Networks during the COVID-19 Crisis in France
by Julien Longhi
Publications 2022, 10(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10010007 - 28 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5347
Abstract
Didier Raoult has acquired media authority in the debates on the treatment of COVID-19 in France thanks to his professional competence, raising issues of legitimacy and authority. He presents himself as a “star of infectious diseases”, belonging to the “elite”. In the press [...] Read more.
Didier Raoult has acquired media authority in the debates on the treatment of COVID-19 in France thanks to his professional competence, raising issues of legitimacy and authority. He presents himself as a “star of infectious diseases”, belonging to the “elite”. In the press and online comments, the scientificity of the subject is mixed with considerations that may seem trivial. This paper will analyze the way in which scientificity is expressed in the media coverage of the scientist but also the way in which online communities discuss, argue, and become involved in polemics and controversies concerning him. It will analyze the links and shifts between scientific and parascientific communication. It will, therefore, deal with both the discourse and the staging around the scientist Didier Raoult and the circulation of his words and positions through online media and citizen communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
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17 pages, 1013 KiB  
Article
Multimodal Generic Trends of Harvard Business Review Knowledge Communication in and beyond Social Media Context: Exploiting Affordances, Neglecting Opportunities
by Jan Engberg and Carmen Daniela Maier
Publications 2022, 10(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10010004 - 17 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5676
Abstract
This article is part of an on-going research project dedicated to enhancing our understanding of domain-specific knowledge communication across various multiliterate communities, semiotic modes and media contexts. The focus of the present analytical endeavour is on the dissemination of knowledge of academics from [...] Read more.
This article is part of an on-going research project dedicated to enhancing our understanding of domain-specific knowledge communication across various multiliterate communities, semiotic modes and media contexts. The focus of the present analytical endeavour is on the dissemination of knowledge of academics from the domain of business and management to professionals and other non-academic communicative partners in the context of the Harvard Business Review journal. The central empirical material is constituted by a cluster of videos selected from the Facebook context of the journal whose intention is to function as a bridge between academia and enterprises. For this bridging effort, a number of video genres which are not traditionally used for scientific knowledge communication in academic contexts (e.g., Quick Study, Explainers, Tips & Ideas, etc.) are employed. Furthermore, in accordance with the Facebook context, the videos are accompanied by users’ commentaries that evaluate the knowledge provided or/and contribute to communicating and co-constructing new knowledge. Finally, we include the articles, books and special issues to which the videos refer in the empirical study. This hybrid knowledge-communication setting is studied from a multimodal perspective in order to address the new ways in which semiotic modes and sub-modes enter into a meaning-making interplay at the level of each video and when users comment on the respective videos. The main analytical tools are the concepts of knowledge expansion and knowledge enhancement that characterize the interaction of modes in the knowledge-building process. Across the video genres that have been investigated, we see a tendency towards engaging users of the videos through diminishing the distance to the viewers. As a consequence, the videos have a high number of views, but at the same time there are few comments and hardly any comments engaging in mutual knowledge building. This paradox is discussed in more detail in the concluding section. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
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16 pages, 426 KiB  
Article
Reader Comments Agentive Power in COVID-19 Digital News Articles: Challenging Parascientific Information?
by Francisca Suau-Jiménez and Francisco Ivorra-Pérez
Publications 2022, 10(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10010002 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3629
Abstract
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an enormous stream of information. Parascientific digital communication has pursued different avenues, from mainstream media news to social networking, at times combined. Likewise, citizens have developed new discourse practices, with readers as active participants who claim authority. [...] Read more.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an enormous stream of information. Parascientific digital communication has pursued different avenues, from mainstream media news to social networking, at times combined. Likewise, citizens have developed new discourse practices, with readers as active participants who claim authority. Based on a corpus of 500 reader comments from The Guardian, we analyse how readers build their authorial voice on COVID-19 news as well as their agentive power and its implications. Methodologically, we draw upon stance markers, depersonalisation strategies, and heteroglossic markers, from the perspective of discursive interpersonality. Our findings unearth that stance markers are central for readers to build authority and produce content. Depersonalised and heteroglossic markers are also resorted, reinforcing readers’ authority with external information that mirrors expert scientific communication. Conclusions suggest a strong citizen agentive power that can either support news articles, spreading parascientific information, or challenge them, therefore, contributing to produce pseudoscientific messages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
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15 pages, 286 KiB  
Article
Claiming Credibility in Online Comments: Popular Debate Surrounding the COVID-19 Vaccine
by Ruth Breeze
Publications 2021, 9(3), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications9030034 - 6 Aug 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3681
Abstract
At times of crisis, access to information takes on special importance, and in the Internet age of constant connectedness, this is truer than ever. Over the course of the pandemic, the huge public demand for constantly updated health information has been met with [...] Read more.
At times of crisis, access to information takes on special importance, and in the Internet age of constant connectedness, this is truer than ever. Over the course of the pandemic, the huge public demand for constantly updated health information has been met with a massive response from official and scientific sources, as well as from the mainstream media. However, it has also generated a vast stream of user-generated digital postings. Such phenomena are often regarded as unhelpful or even dangerous since they unwittingly spread misinformation or make it easier for potentially harmful disinformation to circulate. However, little is known about the dynamics of such forums or how scientific issues are represented there. To address this knowledge gap, this chapter uses a corpus-assisted discourse approach to examine how “expert” knowledge and other sources of authority are represented and contested in a corpus of 10,880 reader comments responding to Mail Online articles on the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in February–July 2020. The results show how “expert” knowledge is increasingly problematized and politicized, while other strategies are used to claim authority. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of sociological theories, and some tentative solutions are proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
10 pages, 970 KiB  
Communication
Total SciComm: A Strategy for Communicating Open Science
by Manh-Toan Ho, Manh-Tung Ho and Quan-Hoang Vuong
Publications 2021, 9(3), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/publications9030031 - 22 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4427
Abstract
This paper seeks to introduce a strategy of science communication: Total SciComm or all-out science communication. We proposed that to maximize the outreach and impact, scientists should use different media to communicate different aspects of science, from core ideas to methods. The paper [...] Read more.
This paper seeks to introduce a strategy of science communication: Total SciComm or all-out science communication. We proposed that to maximize the outreach and impact, scientists should use different media to communicate different aspects of science, from core ideas to methods. The paper uses an example of a debate surrounding a now-retracted article in the Nature journal, in which open data, preprints, social media, and blogs are being used for a meaningful scientific conversation. The case embodied the central idea of Total SciComm: the scientific community employs every medium to communicate scientific ideas and engages all scientists in the process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Scientific and Parascientific Communication)
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