Prevalence of discourse on public engagement with science in ecology literature

• Published in: Frontiers in ecology and the environment Vol. 20; no. 9; pp. 524 - 530
• Main Authors: Davis, Cathlyn, Weber, Caitlin, Nadkarni, Nalini M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Ecological Society of America 01-11-2022
• Subjects: Ecology; Public participation
• ISSN: 1540-9295; 1540-9309
• DOI: 10.1002/fee.2535

Scientists are increasingly encouraged to engage with the public about science. Key to normalizing and advancing “public engagement with science” (PES) is the dissemination of such activities within the science literature. We developed a classification scheme to assess the extent and type of PES articles in ecology‐themed scholarly journals. Our review indicated that although many ecologists interact with the public and intend to maintain this interaction, only a small minority publish about PES efforts, perspectives, strategies, successes, and challenges in ecology journals regularly read by their peers. We suggest that publication of PES in disciplinary journals offers a means of both providing professional credit and improving engagement practices. Thus, we encourage ecologists to write articles about their PES efforts, urge editors and reviewers to be responsive to such submissions, and recommend more consistent use of common PES keywords in science articles.