Societal impact of university research in the written press: media attention in the context of SIUR and the open science agenda among social scientists in Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

Transferring scientific knowledge to non-academic audiences is an essential aspect of the open science agenda, which calls for scholars to pursue a popularization of their research. Accordingly, purposefully introducing scientific insights to the public at large is almost univocally deemed commendable. Indeed, in today’s models of research evaluation, the objects and activities considered are being extended beyond peer-reviewed journal articles to include non-scholarly popular communication. Although altmetrics offer one instrumental way to count some interactions with lay audiences, their reliance on social media makes them susceptible to manipulation, and mostly reflect circulation among niche audiences. In comparison, attention from non-scholarly media like newspapers and magazines seems a more relevant pathway to effectuate societal impact, due to its recognition in qualitative assessment tools and its broad, societal reach. Based on a case study of social scientists’ attention by newspapers and magazines in Flanders (northern Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) in 2019, this paper highlights that frequent participation in the public debate is reserved for high-status researchers only. Results show highly skewed media appearance patterns in both career position and gender, as eight male professors accounted for almost half of all 2019 media attention for social scientists. Because media attention is highly subject-dependent moreover, certain disciplines and fields offer easier pathways to popularization in media than others. Both the open science agenda and research assessment models value presence of researchers in popular media, adding written press attention to existing evaluation assessments however would disproportionately disadvantage early career researchers and exacerbate existing inequalities in academia. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11192-022-04374-x.

A first snapshot of academics’ media mentions and policy citations in Flanders Belgium

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Environmental protection and sustainable development of enterprises in China: The moderating role of media attention

“…Online media attention is the company news coverage by online media, including the number of articles published and reprinted by online media related to companies (Zheng et al, 2021). Print media attention includes newspapers and periodicals as the main body of the media system (Jonker et al, 2022). The number of reports is collectively called media attention.…”

How can altmetrics improve the Public Communication of Science and Technology? An analysis on universities and altmetrics

“…The current scientific evaluation paradigm remains based on classic metrics, almost always at the article level, reviewed by peers, and in scientific journals with different impact factors, measured mainly by citations and derivated indicators (Ioannidis, Boyack & Bass, 2020). However, in current research evaluation frameworks, objects and activities are being extended beyond the science community to reach a broader and more diverse public and impact, to which citation-based research evaluation shows many limitations and biases (Mingers & Leydesdorf, 2015;Fonseca Jr., 2019;Jonker, Vanlee & Ysebaert, 2022).…”