Toward a Model of Scientists’ Public Communication Activity

This study aims to contribute to our empirical understanding of the factors and processes that lead scientists to engage in public communication. Using a national sample, this study identifies key factors that contribute to scientists’ public communication activity, including a scientist’s status, communication autonomy, use of print and online media, intrinsic rewards, communication training, perceived behavioral controls, normative beliefs, and perceived level of medialization. In addition to these findings, this study aims to extend our understanding of the popularization process by injecting theoretical rationale, accounting for indirect pathways of influence, and proposing a baseline model that can be refined over time.