Communicating science in organizational contexts: toward an “organizational turn” in science communication research

Abstract

PurposeResearch on science communication in organizational contexts is scarce – even though many cases can be found where organizations from science and beyond communicate about science-related issues, or where organizational contexts have an impact on the communication of individual scientists and scientific organizations. Therefore, it is time for an “organizational turn” in science communication research, and for more scholarly emphasis on the specific cases that science-related communication in, from and about organizations presents. Such an approximation would benefit both science communication research and analyses of strategic and organizational communication.Design/methodology/approachThis special issue of the “Journal of Communication Management” on “Communicating Science in Organizational Contexts” is a step in this direction: It compiles commentaries from leading scholars in the respective fields as well as research articles coming from various disciplines and conceptual as well as methodological paradigms. In the editorial, we assess overlaps between scholarship on science communication and strategic communication, respectively, based on a meta-analysis of journals in the field(s), develop a guiding heuristic for analyzing science communication in organizational settings, and introduce the contributions to the special issue.FindingsThe meta-analysis shows that overlaps between science communication research and scholarship on strategic communication are scarce. While organizations and their communication appear occasionally, and increasingly often, in science communication research, scholars of strategic communication only rarely analyze science communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe meta-analysis is limited to the publications of five scholarly journals over ten years. It still demonstrates the lack of research in the intersection of scholarship on science communication and strategic communication.Practical implicationsScientific organizations are rapidly extending and professionalizing their strategic communication, and an increasing number of organizations beyond science communicate on science or science-related issues. Understanding science communication in organizational settings, therefore, is crucial for practitioners in both areas.Originality/valueAnalyzing science communication in organizational settings is of increasing importance – yet few studies exist that have done it, and the respective research fields devote not much attention to one another. The special issue is a first foray into this new, intersectional field.

Organizational Communication Study: Organizational Control Theory Implementation by HMI Purwokerto Branch in the Omnibus Law Demonstration

“…At this point, the role of organizations is crucial in the relationship between government and society, not only on a national scale but also globally. Organizations play an important role in contemporary societies worldwide (Schäfer & Fähnrich, 2020).…”

Perceptions, relationships, expectations, and challenges: Views of communication and research for scientific dissemination in Brazilian Federal Institutes

“…The scenario analysis of two institutions hardly occurs in research of this nature. There are few studies focusing on the organizational environment, especially those that analyze this change in focus and relationships in science communication practices [ 55 ]. Therefore, we believe that the results of our study can assist in the elaboration of strategies to strengthen the practice of science communication within these FIs.…”

Risk Researchers’ Views About the Goal of Trying to Ensure Policymakers Consider Scientific Evidence

“…The current study focuses on a scientific society based on the logic that such organizations represent a place within the scientific community where scientists could better work together to identify and achieve shared goals. Past work on scientists’ views about communication have largely focused on scientists’ individual‐level behaviors (Bennett, Dudo, Yuan, & Besley, 2019; Poliakoff & Webb, 2007; Rose, Markowitz, & Brossard, 2020) but logic and recent arguments suggest a need to think about science communication at an organizational level (Anderson, Williams, Long, Carter, & Volckens, 2020; Schäfer & Fähnrich, 2020). Scientific societies are not the only type of organization that could foster communication‐focused collaboration between scientists, but they have some advantages.…”