Your research is published - what now? Your research is finally ready to be published in a reputable journal? Congratulations! You worked so hard on it and invested a lot of time to come to this step. Let’s not forget that the research publication is not the end of the process, but the beginning of another. Society Fundamental Research © Labs Explorer SAS A lot of scientists tend to underestimate the importance of science communication and dissemination of their research. Communication is a real thing to gain reputation, citation numbers, and therefore chances to get grants, as well as a non-negligible boost in your personal career. Scientific finding dissemination is even more relevant when it comes to public-funded research. Because these projects are funded with public money, the public has the right to know about it. That’s why a dissemination plan is now often required when submitting project proposals or applying for a grant. Publishing your research “is not the end of the line, but the beginning instead,” Dr. Danny Kingsley emphasizes. The first thing to consider is making the paper open access. “If you published in an open-access journal - your work is done. If you haven’t, then put a copy of your accepted manuscript into your university or subject repositories,” she advises. If you are not sure what you are allowed to do, check out the How Can I Share It website. It gives you practical information about “where a journal article can be shared in line with the paper’s access and usage rights.” You can also do the dissemination by yourself. You can find ideas on how to do it through the European Commission guidelines for the dissemination of an EU project. There is also a few tips in this article: 7 simple tips to communicate it effectively (https://www.labsexplorer.com/c/your-research-is-published-what-now-7-simple-tips-to-communicate-it-effectively_217) Dr. Lilian Nassi Calò works closely with the SciELO journals, translating Portuguese to English versions. She mentions that many journals have established the practice of disseminating information on social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Yet, the latest criteria for indexing journals in SciELO encourages authors to engage and use the potential of those platforms for disseminating their publication as well. There is no universal formula for effective science communication. The best is to figure out which media works the best for you, depending on your objectives, targeted audience, and content you are the most confident with. Make sure you engage in communication channels that are actually fitting your objective in terms of audience, message and efforts. Find the balance between time invested and the impact. If you want to invest extra effort but don’t have time for it: get help from your team and professionals such as Labs Explorer. “There are thousands of ways we can help the society,” says Dr. Lilian Nassi Calò. “Disseminating your research is at least what you can do to pay back the public money your research has been funded with. Explain the results and what have scientists been doing in the lab, so the public can make their own informed decisions,” she concluded. Dr. Martina Ribar Hestericová, advises to always remember one thing: to provide sources to your research, no matter which audience you target. This step is crucial for strengthening the public trust in science, preventing the spread of fake news and misinformation. “In these small things, if all of us try to do something, we could really change the world, if we do it correctly and with passion”, she concludes. Keywords dissemination, communication, publication, open access, exploitation of results
