Public engagement with science : origins, motives and impact in academic literature and science policy

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dc.contributor.authorWeingart, Peteren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJoubert, Marinaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorConnoway, Karienen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-03T09:20:59Z
dc.date.available2022-01-03T09:20:59Z
dc.date.issued2021-07-07
dc.descriptionCITATION: Weingart, P., Joubert, M. & Connoway, K. 2021. Public engagement with science : origins, motives and impact in academic literature and science policy. PLoS ONE, 16(7): e0254201, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254201.
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at https://journals.plos.org
dc.description.abstract‘Public engagement with science’ has become a ‘buzzword’ reflecting a concern about the widening gap between science and society and efforts to bridge this gap. This study is a comprehensive analysis of the development of the ‘engagement’ rhetoric in the pertinent academic literature on science communication and in science policy documents. By way of a content analysis of articles published in three leading science communication journals and a selection of science policy documents from the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), the European Union (EU), and South Africa (SA), the variety of motives underlying this rhetoric, as well as the impact it has on science policies, are analyzed. The analysis of the science communication journals reveals an increasingly vague and inclusive definition of ‘engagement’ as well as of the ‘public’ being addressed, and a diverse range of motives driving the rhetoric. Similar observations can be made about the science policy documents. This study corroborates an earlier diagnosis that rhetoric is running ahead of practice and suggests that communication and engagement with clearly defined stakeholder groups about specific problems and the pertinent scientific knowledge will be a more successful manner of ‘engagement’.en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipSouth African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No 93097)
dc.description.urihttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0254201
dc.description.versionPublisher's version
dc.format.extent30 pages : illustrations
dc.identifier.citationWeingart, P., Joubert, M. & Connoway, K. 2021. Public engagement with science : origins, motives and impact in academic literature and science policy. PLoS ONE, 16(7): e0254201, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254201.
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203 (online)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254201
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124030
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyright
dc.subjectPolitical participationen_ZA
dc.subjectScience and societyen_ZA
dc.subjectScience -- Social aspectsen_ZA
dc.subjectAcademic writingen_ZA
dc.subjectScience policyen_ZA
dc.subjectScience and stateen_ZA
dc.titlePublic engagement with science : origins, motives and impact in academic literature and science policyen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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