`Pandem-icons' — exploring the characteristics of highly visible scientists during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic escalated demand for scientific explanations and guidance, creating opportunities for scientists to become publicly visible. In this study, we compared characteristics of visible scientists during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic (January to December 2020) across 16 countries. We find that the scientists who became visible largely matched socio-cultural criteria that have characterised visible scientists in the past (e.g., age, gender, credibility, public image, involvement in controversies). However, there were limited tendencies that scientists commented outside their areas of expertise. We conclude that the unusual circumstances created by Covid-19 did not change the phenomenon of visible scientists in significant ways.

Second-order Citations in Altmetrics: A Case Study Analyzing the Audiences of COVID-19 Research in the News and on Social Media

“…The presence of Obama and other political celebrity figures, well-known journalists , and highly visible scientists in the top rankings (Table 5) aligns with previous research that has examined the role of individuals with celebrity status and other elites in the context of diffusing science content on social media (Gallagher et al, 2021;Joubert et al, 2023). Given what we know about the important role of influencer accounts in news curation (Bruns, 2018), it is perhaps unsurprising that these accounts generate engagement from sharing second-order citations, but it is also notable that 11 of the 21 accounts in the top rankings have shared both first-and secondorder citations.…”

“…The findings presented in this article provide strong evidence for considering these indirect mentions of research as an important measure of impact beyond the academic community and so warrant further exploration. This is timely, given increasing recognition of the societal value of science communication and science journalism (Elliott, 2022;Gesualdo et al, 2020), not least because of their significant role in mobilizing knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic (Joubert et al, 2023;Newman et al, 2020).…”

When scientific experts come to be media stars: An evolutionary model tested by analysing coronavirus media coverage across Italian newspapers

“…This confirms that being in the media previously is a driver for their media visibility during the pandemic. It should be further noticed that media visibility of these experts is not only antecedent, but it also entails transmediality, namely to be exposed across different types of media: Burioni, for example, has been not only often invited to TV talk shows [ 63 ], but he has been present also on social media and in general on the web (blogs or sites more or less focused on scientific topics). This highlights that there is a significant relationship between presence in newspapers and presence in other widely distributed media.…”

Interrogating the lack of diversity of thought in the pandemic response that led to mistakes - holistic evidence-based approach to deal with future pandemics

“…Centralized decision-making during the pandemic, primarily led by select scientists (pandem-icons) who self-appointed as the sole voices of reason, resulted in a narrow, reductionist approach. This approach neglected critical factors, such as economic and social impacts, ultimately leading to suboptimal outcomes ( 80 ). The absence of multidisciplinary advisory panels perpetuated these limitations at considerable costs ( 30 , 81 ).…”