RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Science podcasts: analysis of global production and output from 2004 to 2018
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 298356
DO 10.1101/298356
A1 Lewis E MacKenzie
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/05/16/298356.abstract
AB Podcasts have emerged as a new decentralised global medium for science communication to the global public. However, despite their popularity and proliferation, there have been no studies of the production and dissemination of science podcasts. To address this need, this study identified 952 English language science podcasts and associated promotional websites. Key indicators of podcast production and output were classified from textual and visual data. It was found that between 2004 and 2010, the number of science podcasts grew linearly, but has subsequently grown exponentially. 65% of science were hosted by scientists and 77% were targeted to public audiences. 38% of science podcasts were created by independent producers, compared to 62% produced with an organisational affiliation. 34% of science podcasts focused on general science topics, but a diverse range of science podcast topics are available. Notably, chemistry is under-represented in science podcasts when compared to physics and biology. The USA and UK dominate English language science podcast production. Podcasts affiliated to organisations released more episodes compared to independent podcasts (median = 24 and 16 respectively). Only 24% of science podcasts had some form of overt supplementary income. It is anticipated that these results will inform future science communication strategy.