Communicating Scientific Uncertainty in an Age of COVID-19: An Investigation into the Use of Preprints by Digital Media Outlets

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the surge in use of COVID-19-related preprints by media outlets. Journalists are a main source of reliable public health information during crises and, until recently, journalists have been reluctant to cover preprints because of the associated scientific uncertainty. Yet, uploads of COVID-19 preprints and their uptake by online media have outstripped that of preprints about any other topic. Using an innovative approach combining altmetrics methods with content analysis, we identified a diversity of outlets covering COVID-19-related preprints during the early months of the pandemic, including specialist medical news outlets, traditional news media outlets, and aggregators. We found a ubiquity of hyperlinks as citations and a multiplicity of framing devices for highlighting the scientific uncertainty associated with COVID-19 preprints. These devices were rarely used consistently (e.g., mentioning that the study was a preprint, unreviewed, preliminary, and/or in need of verification). About half of the stories we analyzed contained framing devices emphasizing uncertainty. Outlets in our sample were much less likely to identify the research they mentioned as preprint research, compared to identifying it as simply "research." This work has significant implications for public health communication within the changing media landscape. While current best practices in public health risk communication promote identifying and promoting trustworthy sources of information, the uptake of preprint research by online media presents new challenges. At the same time, it provides new opportunities for fostering greater awareness of the scientific uncertainty associated with health research findings.

Preprinting the COVID-19 pandemic

“…6C and 6D) represents a marked change in journalistic practice: pre-pandemic, bioRxiv preprints received very little coverage in comparison to journal articles [23]. This cultural shift provides an unprecedented opportunity to bridge the scientific and media communities to create a consensus on the reporting of preprints [37,38]. Another marked change was observed in the use of preprints in policy documents (Fig.…”

The evolving role of preprints in the dissemination of COVID-19 research and their impact on the science communication landscape

“…The fact that news outlets are reporting extensively on COVID-19 preprints (Fig 6C and 6D) represents a marked change in journalistic practice: Pre-pandemic, bioRxiv preprints received very little coverage in comparison to journal articles [25]. This cultural shift provides an unprecedented opportunity to bridge the scientific and media communities to create a consensus on the reporting of preprints [21,39]. Another marked change was observed in the use of preprints in policy documents (Fig 6G).…”

Belgian Journalists in Lockdown: Survey on Employment and Working Conditions and Representations of Their Role

“…The difficulties treating such a complex and developing subject, like the COVID-19 pandemic, were also accentuated, especially in the early months, by the lack of definitive scientific answers to many of the challenges and the multiplication of pre-print, nonpeer reviewed studies shared online in the rush to find these answers. Fleerackers et al (2021) found that only half of the news coverage of these pre-prints highlighted the scientific uncertainty associated with COVID-19.…”