How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022
Career options in scientific communication
How to seek a scientific-communication career
Other topics in scientific communication
Reporting on science and writing about it is like attending a never-ending graduate school of unlimited diversity.
—David Perlman
Career options in scientific communication
Some of us in science find the communication aspect so well suited to our interests and abilities that we focus on it in our careers. And increasingly, careers in science communication are being recognized as alternatives to those in research. Opportunities include writing and editing materials for fellow scientists and communicating science to general audiences.
Because you know your scientific discipline, its community, and its culture, you can bring much to publications for other scientists. Various niches exist in this realm. At a major journal, you may be an editor determining scientific content, a manuscript editor, or a writer or editor for the news section, if any. At a magazine or newsletter for scientists, you may be a writer or an editor. At a publisher of scientific books, you may be an acquisitions editor who generates topics, recruits authors, and oversees evaluation of proposals and manuscripts. At a corporation focusing on science or technology, you may write or edit specialized materials such as submissions to regulatory agencies. At a university or research institute, or on a freelance basis, you may be an author’s editor, working directly with authors to refine their writing before submission. Because English is the international language of science, considerable demand exists for author’s editors with strong English-language skills. An article by Kanel and Gastel (2008) summarizes career options in science editing.
Alternatively, you may pursue a career in the popular communication of science. For example, you may be a science reporter, writer, or editor for a newspaper, newsletter, magazine, or online publication. Or you may work in broadcast media. You may write popular science books. You may prepare public-information materials for an organization or government agency concerned with science, technology, the environment, or medicine. At a university, you may write news releases, work on a research magazine, prepare podcasts, or pursue other public-communication activities. Likewise, you may work in media relations or public communication for a corporation. You may help prepare exhibits or other items for science museums. On a freelance basis, you may write about science for various media and institutions. Similarly, you may prepare science-communication materials for various outlets as an employee of a consulting firm.