White Paper.
The Art of Science Communication
Publicly funded science must be understood, trusted, and applied by the people it serves. By taking audience-centered approaches that translate complex research into meaningful, real-world value, organization's can
make their scientific communications effective and scalable.
Contents
Publicly funded science communications functions often look very similar to modern strategic marketing across other industries. They incorporate planning and strategy, media relations, digital engagement, brand management, content development, and outreach.
However, they also have the added complexities of public accountability and the need to engage a wide range of stakeholders, including Congress, the news media, state and local governments, other federal agencies, research and academic communities, and the general public.
Fortunately, the tools for addressing these added complexities are already known, and some of the country’s leading public-sector science organizations are applying them successfully. That gives us good reason to believe that effective science communication is not only possible, but replicable.
NASA invests in large-scale public engagement efforts that are intentionally collaborative, making science accessible and approachable. The NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program unites educators, experts, and community-based learning providers to link individuals from diverse backgrounds and ages with genuine science experiences, engaging NASA content, and NASA science experts (NASA Science Activation, n.d.).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) service delivery model centers the public as the end user of its scientific work. Success for the agency relies on trust and respect, cultivated through sustained engagement and collaboration, to convert science into practical, actionable information. For NOAA, continuous user engagement is key. NOAA coordinates information production and consistently interacts with stakeholders to understand evolving needs (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2022). NOAA also recognizes that the value of large investments in science is realized only when results, risks, and outcomes are communicated effectively (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016).
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) frames communication as a core capability for connecting the public with NIH-funded research. NIH established a set of science communication precepts that explicitly include defining communication objectives; understanding and defining audiences through research; developing a communications strategy; selecting audience-specific communication channels, media outlets, and partnerships; and evaluating outcomes (National Institutes of Health, n.d.a).
Taken together, these examples demonstrate that effective science communication is collaborative, audience-centered, and research-based.
Effective science communication builds broad networks of experts and community partners to connect with the public. It prioritizes sustained engagement to translate complex science into practical, actionable information. And it relies on a structured framework that includes defining clear objectives, understanding and segmenting audiences, selecting appropriate channels, and rigorously evaluating communications performance.
The key to communicating about publicly funded science is understanding that stakeholders must feel part of the science. We cannot simply share results and expect stakeholder support. As communicators, we need to involve our audience in the science, showing not only what was discovered, but why it matters and how it connects to their lives, decisions, and priorities.
Looking more deeply at the communications efforts led by top-tier publicly funded science organizations like NASA, NOAA, and NIH, we’ve developed a list of best practices and practical ways these organizations are making complex science approachable.
Enduring Science Communication Best Practices
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Engage in Dialogue
Scientific organizations must go beyond sharing updates and make scientific information available to the public. They must translate discovery into public value: better health, safer communities, a stronger economy, and smarter policy. The National Academies’ Communicating Science Effectively report notes that communicating science effectively is complex and that the most effective approaches for specific audiences and circumstances are often not obvious (National Academies, n.d.a). But no matter the audience, the report emphasizes approaching science communication as a dialogue, a two-way conversation.
Two-way engagement is a long-standing best practice. The National Academies emphasize that dialogue-based public engagement is often better than one-way transmission for achieving science communication goals (National Academies, n.d.b). Similar research argues for moving from the “deficit model,” meaning one-way transfer from expert to lay audience, toward dialogue models characterized by mutual learning and the acknowledgment of different perspectives and values (EMBO Reports, 2020). This shift matters especially for federally funded science because stakeholders, including Congress, community leaders, industry, and the public, often weigh science information alongside values, costs, benefits, and risk tolerances (National Academies, n.d.c).
Put the Audience First
An audience-first strategy and research-based communication development are foundational. NIH’s “Clear Communication” guidance explicitly calls for conducting research on intended audiences, developing a strategy to achieve objectives, selecting channels and tactics suited to those audiences, and defining evaluation criteria (National Institutes of Health, n.d.a). NOAA’s risk communication synthesis similarly highlights planning and understanding audiences, including the principle “Speak to Their Interests, Not Yours,” explicitly pointing to stakeholder values and concerns as a pathway to better outcomes (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016).
Tell a Story
Narrative and visual communication are enduring tools for comprehension and relevance. NOAA’s best-practice list explicitly recommends using stories and visuals to make risk personal and help audiences understand impacts and hazards (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016). Research in environmental science communication similarly argues for integrating storytelling to increase stakeholder engagement and support evidence-based decision-making (Environmental Science Communication, 2018). These approaches are similarly useful for NSF’s “taxpayer value” storytelling mandate because the public tends to connect more readily to “why it matters” and “what changed” than to technical novelty alone (National Science Foundation, 2023).
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Use Plain Language
Plain language is not optional in government science communication. It is both a best practice and required for compliance. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 is designed to improve the effectiveness and accountability of federal agencies by promoting clear communication that the public can understand and use. Federal plain-language resources emphasize first-read and first-hear comprehension (Office of Personnel Management, n.d.). NIH reinforces this same principle in its guidance: plain language helps reach all Americans with health information they can use and communicates in a way that helps people easily understand and use research results (National Institutes of Health, n.d.b).
Evaluate Communications Performance
Testing and evaluation separate effective science communication from guesswork. NIH’s communications precepts explicitly include evaluation, defining success and measuring it, and NOAA includes “test messages or products; evaluate performance,” cautioning that coworkers are not the audience and advising testing on target audience members (National Institutes of Health, n.d.a; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2016). Tools like CDC’s Clear Communication Index operationalize these standards into measurable criteria, providing a research-based instrument for developing and assessing public communication materials, with scored items drawn from the scientific literature (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).
Admit What You Don’t Know
Finally, strong science communication maintains credibility by framing findings accurately, in context, and with appropriate uncertainty. NIH’s checklist recommends providing perspective and context for a study and grounding the research and its value in solutions to real-world problems (National Institutes of Health, n.d.c). Contemporary research also cautions that how uncertainty is communicated can influence trust, depending on the quality of the evidence and the perceived level of expert disagreement. This means communicators must be deliberate rather than simply “more transparent” if they want to increase understanding without unintentionally eroding confidence (Nature, 2024). It is often just as important to state what scientific results do not mean or what we still need to learn in order to make results actionable.
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