Science-Edu-Communication: Trends Reveal in 20 Years of Science Communication Research

By investigating scholarly output in science communication from 1997 to 2018, this research sought evidence that science education has been increasingly focusing on communication methods to reach the public. Through an automatic scientometric method, this study analyzed 1300 articles published in two leading journals in the field of science communication. As a result, seven trends were revealed and categorized into three themes: Public engagement with science (PES); Media and science (MS); and Issues in science (IS). Furthermore, PES and MS scholarly output were found increased significantly. The findings confirmed the goal of this research. However, it then suggested a research area of bridging science education and science communication that is currently less explored. Given increased focus towards PES and MS, these fields are primed for further collaboration to more engage the public in science learning.