The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science

Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive guide to scientific communication that has been used widely in courses and workshops as well as by individual scientists and other professionals since its first publication in 2002. This revision accounts for the many ways in which the globalization of research and the changing media landscape have altered scientific communication over the past decade. With an increased focus throughout on how research is communicated in industry, government, and non-profit centers as well as in academia, it now covers such topics as the opportunities and perils of online publishing, the need for translation skills, and the communication of scientific findings to the broader world, both directly through speaking and writing and through the filter of traditional and social media. It also offers advice for those whose research concerns controversial issues, such as climate change and emerging viruses, in which clear and accurate communication is especially critical to the scientific community and the wider world.