Ethical Science Communication to the Public: New Concerns for Societies and Publishers

The value of accurate, timely, and effective science communication to the public is undisputed, especially considering the devastation caused by misinformation during the pandemic. The entire scientific process is now under ever greater public scrutiny and science communication professionals find themselves walking a tightrope to retain or gain back public trust. As science media and scholarly publishing organizations worldwide refine their efforts to communicate science to lay audiences, ethical considerations are bound to arise. These go beyond the given issues of accuracy and impartiality and include cryptic questions about preprints for clinical trials, the timing of clinical study disclosure to mainstream media, and how to display confidence in research findings while stating caveats. In this session, publishing and science communication specialists will share different strategies they use to ensure ethical research communication, with the ultimate goal of helping viewers audit and refine their own organization's communication policies and practices. || Speakers: Donald Samulack; Laura Helmuth; Sara Serritella; David Mellor