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Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints

This qualitative study explores how and why journalists use preprints—unreviewed research papers—in their reporting. Through thematic analysis of interviews conducted with 19 health and science journalists in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it applies a theoretical framework that conceptua...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fleerackers, Alice, Moorhead, Laura L., Maggio, Lauren A., Fagan, Kaylee, Alperin, Juan Pablo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9678308/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36409723
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277769
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author Fleerackers, Alice
Moorhead, Laura L.
Maggio, Lauren A.
Fagan, Kaylee
Alperin, Juan Pablo
author_facet Fleerackers, Alice
Moorhead, Laura L.
Maggio, Lauren A.
Fagan, Kaylee
Alperin, Juan Pablo
author_sort Fleerackers, Alice
collection PubMed
description This qualitative study explores how and why journalists use preprints—unreviewed research papers—in their reporting. Through thematic analysis of interviews conducted with 19 health and science journalists in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it applies a theoretical framework that conceptualizes COVID-19 preprint research as a form of post-normal science, characterized by high scientific uncertainty and societal relevance, urgent need for political decision-making, and value-related policy considerations. Findings suggest that journalists approach the decision to cover preprints as a careful calculation, in which the potential public benefits and the ease of access preprints provided were weighed against risks of spreading misinformation. Journalists described viewing unreviewed studies with extra skepticism and relied on diverse strategies to find, vet, and report on them. Some of these strategies represent standard science journalism, while others, such as labeling unreviewed studies as preprints, mark a departure from the norm. However, journalists also reported barriers to covering preprints, as many felt they lacked the expertise or the time required to fully understand or vet the research. The findings suggest that coverage of preprints is likely to continue post-pandemic, with important implications for scientists, journalists, and the publics who read their work.
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spelling pubmed-96783082022-11-22 Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints Fleerackers, Alice Moorhead, Laura L. Maggio, Lauren A. Fagan, Kaylee Alperin, Juan Pablo PLoS One Research Article This qualitative study explores how and why journalists use preprints—unreviewed research papers—in their reporting. Through thematic analysis of interviews conducted with 19 health and science journalists in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it applies a theoretical framework that conceptualizes COVID-19 preprint research as a form of post-normal science, characterized by high scientific uncertainty and societal relevance, urgent need for political decision-making, and value-related policy considerations. Findings suggest that journalists approach the decision to cover preprints as a careful calculation, in which the potential public benefits and the ease of access preprints provided were weighed against risks of spreading misinformation. Journalists described viewing unreviewed studies with extra skepticism and relied on diverse strategies to find, vet, and report on them. Some of these strategies represent standard science journalism, while others, such as labeling unreviewed studies as preprints, mark a departure from the norm. However, journalists also reported barriers to covering preprints, as many felt they lacked the expertise or the time required to fully understand or vet the research. The findings suggest that coverage of preprints is likely to continue post-pandemic, with important implications for scientists, journalists, and the publics who read their work. Public Library of Science 2022-11-21 /pmc/articles/PMC9678308/ /pubmed/36409723 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277769 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication.
spellingShingle Research Article
Fleerackers, Alice
Moorhead, Laura L.
Maggio, Lauren A.
Fagan, Kaylee
Alperin, Juan Pablo
Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
title Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
title_full Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
title_fullStr Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
title_full_unstemmed Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
title_short Science in motion: A qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
title_sort science in motion: a qualitative analysis of journalists’ use and perception of preprints
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9678308/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36409723
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277769
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