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The 2020--2022 pandemic highlighted concerns about "information disorders", pressing for approaches capable of guiding the science-society alliance toward a mutually beneficial direction. This essay advocates for and presents a framework proposing the combination of Open Science (OS) and Science Communication (SciComm) practices. OS encourages public access to scientific material, while SciComm has historically enabled public understanding of scientific knowledge. Despite their similar goals, these two communities are disconnected. We draw on the concepts of "boundary object" and "epistemic trust" to demonstrate how this framework could foster a bond between scientific expertise and public reason toward an informed and inclusive common good. The OS-SciComm framework is based on the notion that ensuring transparency in science also requires "bridging tools" that deal with the complexity of scientific lexicon and processes. It values scientific expertise, but does not undermine citizens' capabilities in information processing and their interest in accessing scientific outputs. Our proposal also acknowledges controversies involving open scientific materials during the COVID-19 pandemic and advises caution when drawing conclusions from cases that are often context-specific. The OS-SciComm framework requires innovative ideas, platforms and actions. We invite both communities to join us in this endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: When using social media, physicians are encouraged and trained to maintain separate professional and personal identities. However, this separation is difficult and even undesirable, as the blurring of personal and professional online presence can influence patient trust. Thus, it is necessary to develop policies and educational resources that are more responsive to the blurring of personal and professional boundaries on social media. This study aims to provide an understanding of how physicians present themselves holistically online to inform such policies and resources. Methods: Twenty‐eight US‐based physicians who use social media were interviewed. Participants were asked to describe how and why they use social media, specifically Twitter (rebranded as 'X' in 2023). Interviews were complemented by data from the participants' Twitter profiles. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis guided by Goffman's dramaturgical model. This model uses the metaphor of a stage to characterise how individuals attempt to control the aspects of the identities—or faces—they display during social interactions. Results: The participants presented six faces, which included professionally focused faces (e.g. networker) and those more personal in nature (e.g. human). The participants crafted and maintained these faces through discursive choices in their tweets and profiles, which were motivated by their audience's perceptions. We identified overlaps and tensions at the intersections of these faces, which posed professional and personal challenges for participants. Conclusions: Physicians strategically emphasise their more professional or personal faces according to their objectives and motivations in different communicative situations, and tailor their language and content to better reach their target audiences. While tensions arise between these faces, physicians still prefer to project a rounded, integral image of themselves on social media. This suggests a need to reconsider social media policies and related educational initiatives to better align with the realities of these digital environments. Examining how physicians present themselves on social media, @laurenmaggio et al. report efforts to project a rounded, integral image by tailoring the language & content of posts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Social annotation (SA) is a genre of learning technology that enables the annotation of digital resources for information sharing, social interaction and knowledge production. This study aims to examine the perceived value of SA as contributing to learning in multiple undergraduate courses. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 59 students in 3 upper-level undergraduate courses at a Canadian university participated in SA-enabled learning activities during the winter 2019 semester. A survey was administered to measure how SA contributed to students' perceptions of learning and sense of community. Findings: A majority of students reported that SA supported their learning despite differences in course subject, how SA was incorporated and encouraged and how widely SA was used during course activities. While findings of the perceived value of SA as contributing to the course community were mixed, students reported that peer annotations aided comprehension of course content, confirmation of ideas and engagement with diverse perspectives. Research limitations/implications: Studies about the relationships among SA, learning and student perception should continue to engage learners from multiple courses and from multiple disciplines, with indicators of perception measured using reliable instrumentation. Practical implications: Researchers and faculty should carefully consider how the technical, instructional and social aspects of SA may be used to enable course-specific, personal and peer-supported learning. Originality/value: This study found a greater variance in how undergraduate students perceived SA as contributing to the course community. Most students also perceived their own and peer annotations as productively contributing to learning. This study offers a more complete view of social factors that affect how SA is perceived by undergraduate students.

This article examines the public communication of COVID-19-related 'preprints' (unreviewed research studies) in a digital media environment. To understand how preprint research flows from preprint server, to media story, to social media audience, we analysed engagement with 'second-order citations' – social media posts linking to media coverage of research – using a sample of 41 media stories published by the research amplifier platform The Conversation (TC) that mentioned preprint research during the early months of the pandemic. We applied content analyses to the Facebook and Twitter accounts sharing these stories and analysed the engagement that the posts received. We found that TC stories mentioning preprints were shared among a diverse collection of Facebook and Twitter accounts, providing a second layer of social media amplification of preprint research. Still, posts by a small proportion of 'elite' actors – people with prominent roles in media and communications, politics or academia – tended to generate more engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists were encouraged to convey uncertainty surrounding preliminary scientific evidence, including mentioning when research is unpublished or unverified by peer review. To understand how public audiences interpret this information, we conducted a mixed method study with U.S. adults. Participants read a news article about preprint COVID-19 vaccine research in early April 2021, just as the vaccine was becoming widely available to the U.S. public. We modified the article to test two ways of conveying uncertainty (hedging of scientific claims and mention of preprint status) in a 2 × 2 between-participants factorial design. To complement this, we collected open-ended data to assess participants' understanding of the concept of a scientific preprint. In all, participants who read hedged (vs. unhedged) versions of the article reported less favorable vaccine attitudes and intentions and found the scientists and news reporting less trustworthy. These effects were moderated by participants' epistemic beliefs and their preference for information about scientific uncertainty. However, there was no impact of describing the study as a preprint, and participants' qualitative responses indicated a limited understanding of the concept. We discuss implications of these findings for communicating initial scientific evidence to the public and we outline important next steps for research and theory-building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the uses (or motivations) and rewards (or gratifications) health professionals associate with using YouTube to publish video content, or vlogs, about health information. We applied reflexive thematic analysis to data from indepth interviews and focus groups with 12 popular Egyptian 'physician vloggers' (i.e., physicians, pharmacists, and psychologists with many YouTube subscribers). Informed by Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), we examined what motivated these health professionals to vlog on YouTube and the rewards they received from doing so. Physician vloggers used YouTube to achieve self-focused goals, such as to develop their professional brands and save time at work, as well as society-focused goals, such as to spread medical awareness, address cultural and social stigma around mental health, and offer free medical advice to those who need it. In return, vlogging on YouTube gratified participants with a sense of influence, recognition, and professional fulfilment, as well as opportunities to build digital communication skills and deepen medical knowledge. Findings extend work on UGT to a context in which users create and share content, not just to consume it and, in doing so, furthers our understanding of what motivates health professionals to share content on YouTube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing interest in doctors' use of social media, little is known about how medical professionals want to appear before online audiences. This multi-method qualitative study fills this gap by analyzing the self-presentation of 12 Egyptian medical doctors who create health-related video blogs (vlogs) on YouTube and Facebook. We pair in-depth interviews and focus group data with a critical discourse analysis of 48 vlogs to investigate how these physicians construct their images as both health professionals (doctors) and content makers (influencers). In doing so, we rely on Goffman's dramaturgical approach to examine the "faces" they wear in their vlogs and the strategies they use to manage when and how each face is perceived. We find that participants present themselves through four faces: approachable, knowledgeable, pedagogical, and popular. Their self-presentation appears to be a negotiation between two roles: part influencer, or social media content creator, and part doctor, or health service provider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]