Handfasta tips från kommunikatörerna / Practical advice from the communication officers | |
| | Science Communication@LTV | | | | | | | | |
Autumn flowering plants in Alnarpsparken. Photo: Teresia Borgman
| Hello! Popular science writing is the focus of this newsletter where some of our colleagues share their best tips for attracting readers.
As usual, we also talk about current events and news that we hope will inspire in science communication and present a selection of our colleagues who have appeared in the media recently.
You are always welcome to contact us if you want to discuss research communication or let us know about something that is going on.
We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter! Johanna Grundström, Karin Montgomery och Teresia Borgman Science Communication@LTV
In this newsletter: | | | | | Top tips to encourage reading
We asked a few employees about their best tips and tricks for popular science writing - both to attract readers and to keep the reader.
| 'If your main message is clear already before you start writing, it will shine through your text as you write later on,' says Maria Vilain Rørvang, Associate Professor, Department of Biosystems and Technology. Photo:
Simone Basse
| | "Identify your main message"Maria Vilain Rørvang, Associate Professor, Department of Biosystems and Technology:
'Create ”Mojo”! Mojo means adding “a magic charm, talisman, or spell”. To me it means adding that little extra something which makes the news value “stick out”. This can be done with some clever twisting of words. Example: Original sentence: The effects of odourised straw on pig welfare -> sentence with mojo: Smell This! – can odourised straw improve welfare of pigs?' 'The “7, 5, 3” exercise: Identify what your main message is, write it out in maximum 7 words, then 5 words, and then 3 words. This might not create a catchy title, but it will help you get the most central message clear to yourself. If this is clear already before you start writing, it will shine through your text as you write later on. The 7, 5, 3 procedure can be repeated if there is more than one main message.' 'Imagine if your result(s) was a movie! If in any way possible, I create small GIFs based on the video materials from our experiments. Short clips can make a strong impression if clipped in the right way. The GIF can either serve as an easy "eye-catching" aspect of the article, or as a tool to get the message clearly conveyed. Also, imagining your results as a movie might make it easier to structure the article in a captivating way (inspire you on how to create curiosity.' | | | | | |
'My best advice is to simply think, "What's the deal?" before you start writing, you have a very short time to capture the reader's interest, says Marianne Persson, Project Manager Communications, Swedish Centre for Agricultural Business Management. Photo: Johan Wahlgren
| | "You have very little time to capture the reader's interest"
Marianne Persson, Project Manager Communications, Swedish Centre for Agricultural Business Management: 'My best advice is to simply think, "What's the deal?" before you start writing, you have a very short time to capture the reader's interest, so it is important to simplify, simplify and explain already in the preamble. Be corageous and dramatize just right. 'Who? When? Where? How? Why? are good questions to then give answers to. Please include a quote from someone who participated, if possible. Scientific method can land quite a bit down in the text or in the facts box.' | | | | 'I often spend a lot of time editing the text, testing different approaches, finding common threads and reading aloud , sometimes with a slightly clearer target group in mind,' says Märit Jansson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management. Photo: Marianne Persson | | "Find the joy in writing in a freer way"
Märit Jansson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management:
'My best trick is to first ignore the end result and target group of the text and find the joy in writing in a freer way than in a scientific context. After that, I often spend a lot of time editing the text, testing different approaches, finding common threads and reading aloud , sometimes with a slightly clearer target group in mind. It is good to catch the reader's interest early on and argue that the text is worth reading, perhaps because it answers a problem.' 'I also very much appreciate being able to write together with others. It is instructive with different views on how a text becomes accessible and appealing. Collaborating with people who work outside the academic world is often particularly rewarding for popular science writing. Then the target audience can simply be involved in writing.' | | | | 'How you arrived at the results can easily be a brake block if it comes at the beginning, as well as who contributed with research funds. Collect and save it in a fact box,' says Titti Olsson, Editor, Unit for Collaboration and Development. Photo: Emil Malmborg | |
"Always talk about the results first"Titti Olsson, Editor, Unit for Collaboration and Development:
'Imagine that you are sitting at a dinner table and have a person at the table who is not privy to your research or even to the academic culture. They wonder what you do. Then you are likely to tell in a way that makes your table neighbor curious like that he doesn't turn around and start talking to someone else. To do that: always tell about the results first. How you arrived at it can easily be a brake block if it comes at the beginning, as well as who contributed with research funds. Collect andn save it in a fact box that can be read at the end or in parallell in the margin (if it is a printed matter.) A simple model when you post a text to write captivatingly and include the current situation, as well as background, goals and objectives: *How is it? The answer to that question means you tell us what you're up to. *Why is it like that? In the answer to that question there is a chance to give a historical retrospective - why is your research interesting? Does it build on previous research? Is it perhaps groundbreaking, i.e. no one has done it before.
*What will it be like in the future? Here the answer is that you tell us what you want and hope that your research will lead to - a picture of the future, simply put.' | | | | | | | | More tips on popular science writing
To tell a story, to highlight why a narrow research question is important in a larger perspective and to understand the reader's perspective. These are some tips about popular science writing. More on this and more tips:
| | | | | Rural Week 2025
Are you interested in reaching a wider target group with your research results? Take the chance to be part of the Rural Week to communicate your research, collaborate and be inspired! From November 1, you can register your event for Rural Week 2025. Collaboration with other groups or organizations is encouraged, to give space for new voices in the conversations about our rural areas. It's easy to participate and there's no cost. Registration via the Rural Week website Are you curious about the Rural Week and want to know how you can be part of the program? Four digital Open Houses will be held in the coming months, starting on November 7. Read more in the calendar for Uppdrag landsbygd (in Swedish only) You can also contact Sara Westerdahl and Ida Gustafsson with ideas.
| | | | | | Contribute ideas to SLU's Christmas Calendar
Are you doing research on something that can be connected to Christmas? Or do you have a funny or unexpected research result? Take the opportunity to tip us about news to use for SLU's Christmas calendar for distribution in social media. You can leave tips throughout the month of November. | | | | News in brief- Image and video routine at SLU is now in place with an addition about the use of AI-generated material (read more under the heading Authenticity/credibility): 'We can show elks in the classroom, we can populate empty spaces, but when using generated pictures we need to clearly state that we do so.'
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The generalizability of studies is discussed in P1's Medierna, Swedish Radio: A study that received great international media coverage is discussed in an episode of Swedish Radio P1's Medierna. The importance of, and the possible obligation of journalism, to tell about the generalizability of a study is the focus of the feature where both researchers and journalists are interviewed (in Swedish only).
- New edition of the Swedish Research Council's publication on good research practice: Publication and communication are issues that are addressed in the Swedish Research Council's revised edition of the document on good research practice. One issue that is raised is 'In practice, it can be difficult to gain impact for less sensational - but still valuable - results in scientific journals as well as in the media. The research community (and society at large) should strive to change this for the better.' (Report in Swedish only)
| Coworkers in the mediaA selection of media features where employees and activities at the LTV faculty has recently achieved attention: Dennis Andreasson, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, is interviewed in the article Fyra år fyllda med forskning - men sedan då? in Sydsvenskan (in Swedish only). Erik Andreasson, Department of Plant Protection Biology, is noticed in Potato News Today in the article Project 'Resilient Potato': SLU researchers uncover key gene to strengthen potato crops against fungi, climate challenges and in Gensaxad potatis blir stärkt mot både sjukdom och klimatförändring (in Swedish only) in Vetenskapsradion Nyheter in Swedish Radio and in the SLU news article A Helping Gene for Healthier Plants. Marie-Claude Dubois, Department of Biosystems and Technology, participates in the article Temperaturen stiger men kommunerna saknar planer in Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish only). Hundar som letar fruktträdskräfta får guldäpplet (in Swedish only). The dogs searching for Fruit Tree canker, a distructive disesase plaguing Swedish Apple orchards, receive attention in Ystads Allehanda and are rewarded 'The Golden Apple'. The dogs are part of a project in which där Larisa Gustafsson, Department of Plant Breeding participates, and which was previously noticed in the SLU news article
Sniffing out fruit tree canker. Lotta Nordmark, Department of Biosystems and Technology, is interviewed in Dagens industri in the article artikeln
Svenskt vin och nya grödor i klimatkrisens spår (in Swedish only).
Kimmo Rumpunen and Joakim Sjöstrand, Department of Plant Breeding, are interviewed in the article Växtförädling kan minska äppelsvinn i framtiden in the journal Extrakt (in Swedish only).
Azadeh Shahrad, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, participates in the articles "Många boende har inte upplevt planeringsprocessen som rättvis" in the journal Arkitekten and Boendes röster viktiga innan förtätning i utsatta områden in Landets fria tidning after the press release Lyssna på boende i utsatta områden. (articles in Swedish only)
You can reach media behind paywalls through the SLU Library in the database Retriever
Business. The database Artikelsök contains articles from Swedish newspapers and magazines. You cand more features at SLU i media. | | |
In Researchers' Grand Prix, the challenges is to present your research as simply and engagingly as possible in just four minutes. The final will be held in Stockholm on 26 November 2024 at 14:00-16:00, Filadelfia Convention Centre. | | | |
The democratic mission of science communication and burning questions for the professional role of science communicators right now. That and much more will be highlighted during this year's forum on November 27 – in Stockholm and digitally.
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Seminar with interdisciplinary discussion on the challenges researchers face when asked to provide expert opinion, such as: How to maintain credibility and avoid being perceived as biased? How do you use evidence-based knowledge to shape policy and public opinion? Organiser: SLU Aquaculture. Location: Zoom.
| | | | | | | | About Science Communication@LTV
The newsletter is published by Science Communication@LTV which provides support for research staff at the LTV faculty (Faculty of landscape architecture, horticulture and plant production science).
Teamet:Johanna Grundström, Interim Operations Manager.
Karin Montgomery, Science Communicator and Writer
Teresia Borgman, Newsletter Editor. | | | |
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