Improving Academic Communication

Patrick Dunleavy and Chris GilsonLSE Public Policy GroupInvestigating Academic Impacts conference13 June 2011

Outline

Academic communication as it is now Academic blogging, and the advent of Multi-

author academic blogs (MAABs) Using social media Multi-author blogs at the LSE and beyond

Academic Communication as it is now

Journal articles, conference proceedings (very high-price) books, book reviews

Journal articles and books are read by few, and rarely picked up by the media

The text of books and closed-web articles is completely inaccessible to those without journal/library access, far too long, and often impenetrably written

Reflecting a one-way (experts only) communications process

Academic Communication cont’d

BUT – social scientists are observers who need to

communicate their observations to the world (in a timely fashion)

- much of social scientists’ knowledge and input goes unapplied because of very long time-lines for outputs, and lack of adaptation or translation

So how can we change or complement the ‘traditional’ model?

Academic blogging and the advent of Multi-Author Academic Blogs (MAABs)

Academic Blogging Academics going online is not new

Electronic journals began in disk/BBS format in 1980s and the first ‘Internet’ journals in the mid 1990s

Academic blogging is different Shorter articles: 300 – 1,200 words Easy to share by email, social networks Searchable on the open web – could be a teaching tool Whole person style – where content may be personal

as well as academic Instant comments and feedback

Academic Blogging, contd Anyone can do it – exceptionally easy software Hosting

WordpressBloggerSelf-hosted InstitutionalHosted in mainstream media

Dissemination is immediate – seconds as compared to years

Spectrum of offerings from stars (like Paul Krugman) to more ordinary academic folk

Single author blogs

Have grown massively in popularity (with their authors) in recent years; e.g. Warwick lists over 7,000 on their portal with over 140,000 entries

But, without frequent updates, these often wither – 75%+ of blogs worldwide are dead or dormant

With increasing pressure on academics and university staff – who has the time to blog?

Single author blogs

Content is king, and ‘vanity’ projects with infrequent posts are counter-productive and won’t survive

Some SABs are successful in the political arena (Guido Fawkes)

But most SABs are now either shutting down or joining with other (more corporate) bloggers – even in political commentary (Iain Dale)

Appetite for personal commentary/ glimpses of life has now shifted to Twitter?

Multi-author academic blogs (MAABs)

Multi-author academic blogs Multiple contributors

Covering many topics or subjectsPosting regularly and reliably, so that readers

know when to return Flexible formats – from ‘Top-level’ blogs with

hundreds of authors and posting every day (e.g. LSE’s British Politics and Policy blog)

Through to smaller MAABs for single departments or networks, posting weekly or bi-weekly

Comments and social media can help build a community

Easy to track readership with Google Analytics

Multi-author blogs and social media

Twitter/FacebookPromote the blog and can greatly extend its

reach and visibilityAdd interactive elements to build

communityEncourage discussion, rapid correction and

clarifying

Multi-author blogs – style tips Use short paragraphs, simple language ‘Front load’ the narrative – get the key points at the beginning Always use narrative titles (written by the blog team, not the

author) will help content to ‘go viral’ – can you retweet the title as it stands?

Include good introductory paragraphs (also written by the blog team) give the gist of the argument and key take-away messages

Don’t leave out simple, clear, charts and diagrams Give methods information where it is needed – help expand

public understanding of academic subjects A Creative Commons license helps content to spread

Multi-author (themed) blogs

Work well linked to a journal (e.g. Social Europe) Can generate many Twitter followers (e.g. British

Politics and Policy at LSE has 4,200 in a year, Social Europe has 10,000+)

Can make good use of podcasts, video and other rich media elements (e.g. Social Europe)

Varied orientations e.g. The Conversation is a newspaper, Australian Policy Online is an indexer

Smaller multi-author (themed) blogs

Are becoming more and more prevalent worldwide – a few we’ve noticed in our area:Many at LSE – Media, International Affairs,

AfricaOxford – Politics in SpiresNottingham - Ballots and Bullets

Multi-author blogs

The internet is not a zero-sum game, and if many universities pitch in to better communicate academic knowledge to wider audiences the result should be beneficial for all

Structural issues for MAABs Getting institutional buy-in is tricky:

Coping with academics who don’t “get it” and want to “stay long” – offer to rewrite stuff for them, giving them final editorial control (of main text)

Dealing with Press Office/ Communications/ External Relations and other vested interests, who often are very slow to change and feel threatened

DIY options – single departments/groups can run less ambitious MAABs. But what will make folk come back to you?

Faculty and university-wide MAABs will probably work best

Collaborations between institutions and networking can both help in assembling a critical mass of authors

Conclusions Professional standards of communication are changing in

every walk-of-life and every academic discipline Usually towards getting shorter – “Less is more” Strong exceptions too though, like 24 hours news long

interviews, to fill the space; many webcasts and podcasts, etc. Main research outputs need different versions, targeted more

to segmented audiences (e.g. closed-web experts and open-web audiences)

But even these distinctions may lapse – e.g. free-to-read professional journals are opening up full details to everyone online (who’s expert enough)

And with 50% of each UK generation becoming graduates, and universities needing alumni support, communicating expertly to graduates is set to be more vital