Improving Academic Communication

1. Improving Academic Communication Patrick Dunleavy and Chris Gilson LSE Public Policy Group Investigating Academic Impacts conference 13 June 2011

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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?

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

6. 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

7. Academic Blogging, contd • Anyone can do it – exceptionally easy software • Hosting • Wordpress • Blogger • Self-hosted • Institutional • Hosted in mainstream media • Dissemination is immediate – seconds as compared to years • Spectrum of offerings from stars (like Paul Krugman) to more ordinary academic folk

12. 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?

15. 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?

16. Multi-author academic blogs (MAABs)

17. Multi-author academic blogs • Multiple contributors • Covering many topics or subjects • Posting 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

19. Multi-author blogs and social media • Twitter/Facebook • Promote the blog and can greatly extend its reach and visibility • Add interactive elements to build community • Encourage discussion, rapid correction and clarifying

22. 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

23. 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

27. 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, Africa • Oxford – Politics in Spires • Nottingham - Ballots and Bullets

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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