From planning to motivations: Citizen science comes to life

This issue forms Part II of JCOM’s collection of articles and essays exploring the field of citizen science. Here I introduce the articles in Part II, outlining how they contribute to our understanding of the ways that volunteers participate in citizen science projects, what motivates this participation and what learning arises as a result of participation

On the roles of scientists, press officers and journalists

This issue of the Journal of Science Communication raises a numberof questions about the ways that new scientific research emerges from researchinstitutions and in particular the role played by scientists, press officers andjournalists in this process. This is not to suggest that the public don’t play anequally important role, and several articles in this issue raise questions aboutpublic engagement, but to explore the dynamics at play in one specific arena: thatof news production. In this editorial I explore the increasing reliance of sciencejournalists on public relations sources and consider what questions this raises forscience communication

Telling stories about our research

The academic journal paper has been around for several hundred years and during that time has seen shifts in style and structure. This editorial explores the traditional research paper and considers whether thinking about the research paper as a story, provides insights into style and structure that would make research both more transparent and more readable

Synthetic biology: Below the radar [Book review]

Englehard et al provide a wide-ranging look at synthetic biology, from discussion of how one might classify different synthetic approaches to consideration of risk and ethical issues. The chapter on public engagement considers why synthetic biology seems to sit below the public radar

A question of (audience) reach

Taking the International Science in Popular Culture conference as a starting point, this editorial considers audiences for cultural products, considering the size of audiences (from blockbuster films, to intimate science slams), their pre-existing (or lack of pre-existing) interest in the subject and what this might offer the field of science communication

Shared spaces: a future for JCOM

As academic communities across the globe are increasingly encour-aged to share their knowledge outside the ivory towers of academia, it becomesever more important to create a bridge that crosses continents and disciplinaryboundaries. Sitting, as it does, at the nexus between science communicationpractice and research, JCOM has a vital role to play as just such a knowledgesharing platform

Exploring serendipitous dialogue

Over the past decades there has been an increasing recognition of theneed to promote dialogue between science and society. Often this takes the formof formal processes, such as citizen’s juries, that are designed to allow the publicto contribute their views on particular scientific research areas. But there arealso many less formal mechanisms that promote a dialogue between science andsociety. This editorial considers science festivals and citizen science in this contextand argues that we need a greater understanding of the potential impacts of theseprojects on the individuals involved, both scientists and the public

Five years of JCOM — inclusive, comprehensive or could we do better?

Looking back over the past 5 years of articles published in JCOM, this editorial looks at the topics covered and the geographies represented and asks: are we tackling all main contemporary issues in science communication/popularisation or public engagement? It invites you to contribute with your papers, letters, essays and news to help address the holes in our coverage and to enter into dialogue on our Facebook page

Between ambition and evidence

Measuring impact may be challenging, but does that mean we should accept a lack of ambition? Researchers in all fields are grappling with the challenge of how to measure impact (in many different contexts, which naturally leads to many different approaches), and so perhaps it is not surprising that the ‘impact culture’ is spreading to public engagement. But is the field rising to the challenge or should we think more broadly about how we demonstrate impact, perhaps freeing individual and smaller projects from the need to measure public impact and allowing them instead to focus on formative development? This editorial explores some of the issues in the field

Evidencing impact: the challenges of mapping impacts frompublic engagement and communication

Clare Wilkinson and Emma Weitkamp from the University of the West of England, Bristol offer support for researchers looking to track and evidence the unique, creative and often qualitative outcomes of public engagement and communication activities. Rather than an add-on to the research, it may be possible to embed evaluation within the research project itself