Publications - Journal of Science Communication

May 20, 2026 pt Article

Mathematics on stage: encoding and decoding humor in the play "The Big Problem of the Infinite Band"

by Ana Clara Dupret and Dr Carla Almeida

Faced with contemporary challenges, science communication has adopted dialogical and affective strategies to bring science and society closer together. In this scenario, theater stands out as an ally, expanding communication beyond the transmission of content. This research investigates the insertion and reception of humor in the play "The Big Problem of the Infinite Band," from the Museu da Vida Fiocruz, which seeks to promote a positive experience with mathematics. Based on Bergson and Fo's concepts of humor and Hall's Encoding/Decoding model, the analysis highlights the use of comic mechanisms capable of entertaining and fostering identification and belonging to the mathematical universe.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

May 11, 2026 pt Article

Public communication of science and university extension (public engagement): researchers' perspectives from a qualitative study

by Matheus Barros and Silvia Martins dos Santos

Public Communication of Science (CPC) can be understood as a strategic dimension of university life. This study investigates how researchers from the Institute of Physics at the Federal University of Uberlândia, in Minas Gerais (Brazil), perceive and practice CPC, highlighting institutional tensions, institutional initiatives, and the role of university mechanisms. Based on interviews with nine professors and seven postgraduate students, results indicate a clear recognition of CPC’s social relevance. However, participation remains irregular and reactive, alongside a lack of awareness regarding existing institutional initiatives. We advocate for an institutional ecosystem that strengthens engagement and the social role of the university.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

May 06, 2026 es Practice Insight

Beliefs and Learning about Seismographs and Animals: A Recreational Activity in Mexico

by Caridad Cárdenas-Monroy

Addressing misconceptions about earthquakes is one of the main challenges in the public communication of seismology. The belief that animals can predict when an earthquake will occur is one of the most deeply rooted myths in society, not only in Mexico but worldwide. To address this issue, a workshop was conducted that included a playful demonstration of a seismograph and a hands-on recreational activity providing information about earthquakes and animals, as part of a science fair organized by the National School of Earth Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Based on this experience, participants’ prior beliefs and the learning achieved through the workshop were analyzed.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Apr 27, 2026 es Article

Science communication ecosystem in Morelos

by Lorena Sánchez Adaya

This article presents an exploratory study of the science communication ecosystem in the state of Morelos, Mexico. From a mixed methodological strategy, the main actors, means and practices through which scientific knowledge circulates in public space are identified. The analysis includes the review of newspapers, institutional media, as well as interviews with disseminators, journalists and communication managers. The findings make visible the characteristics of science communication, its limitations and the potential for articulation between different actors.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Apr 20, 2026 es Practice Insight

Recreational science resources for addressing COVID-19.

by Nereida Martínez-Báez, Amelia Rodríguez-Pinedo, Elizabeth Ruiz-García, Miguel Garcia-Guerrero and Diogo Lopes-de Oliveira

Providing access to reliable and accessible information in the face of novel or uncertain scenarios is one of the greatest challenges for public communication of science. This becomes especially sensitive in the field of health, where decisions can literally have life-or-death consequences. Encouraging the public to move beyond confirmation bias and question their beliefs in order to base their opinions on scientific consensus is a major challenge. This article analyzes the process of conceptualizing, designing, and testing recreational science workshops created to address issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease that between March 2020 and August 2022 caused 590 million infections and 6.4 million deaths worldwide. The activities were tested with 211 students aged 8 to 12 in a primary school in Zacatecas, Mexico. Questionnaires were sent to all participants, and 117 responses were obtained. The results point to a greater understanding of and interest in topics related to the novel coronavirus, as well as contagion prevention, vaccines, and the problems associated with self-medication.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Apr 07, 2026 es Article

“Maripensario”: A Bridge Between Science and Outreach. Interactive Science Museum (MIC), Quito, Ecuador.

by María Susana Robledo

The article documents the participatory design experience between the MIC and the Ikiam Regional Amazon University for the creation of the exhibition “Maripensario”, based on neurobiological research on Heliconiini butterflies. Through interviews and content analysis, it examines the process of translating scientific knowledge into an immersive, emotional, aesthetic, and educational proposal. The exhibition integrated art and science, proposing a situated and transformative model of science communication that strengthens the dialogue between academia and museums, and positions the MIC as a space for collective learning and critical reflection.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Mar 02, 2026 es Review

An overview with roots: narrating science communication from Ibero-America

by Teresa Avila Alba

El libro Comunicar la ciencia en Iberoamérica: un sobrevuelo por la región ofrece una reconstrucción histórica inédita de la comunicación pública de la ciencia en 12 países iberoamericanos. Documenta la evolución del campo y reúne perspectivas nacionales y regionales, destacando la diversidad y los desafíos que enfrenta. Su enfoque colectivo y comparativo consolida una memoria común y abre una agenda crítica para pensar la comunicación de la ciencia en el futuro.

The book Communicating Science in Ibero-America: An Overview of the Region offers an unprecedented historical reconstruction of public science communication across 12 Ibero-American countries. It documents the evolution of the field and brings together both national and regional perspectives, highlighting its diversity as well as the challenges it faces. The book’s collective and comparative approach consolidates a shared memory and opens a critical agenda for reflecting on the future of science communication in the region.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Feb 09, 2026 es Article

Institutionalization of public communication of science in Mexico: an exploratory study in research centers

by Ma. Luisa Montes Rojas, David Alonso Leija Roman and Felipe Caballero Briones

This study examines the degree of institutionalization of Public Communication of Science (PCS) in Mexico based on a sample of 83 research centers belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), and the Public Research Centers coordinated by the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (SECIHTI). Using a structured questionnaire grounded in the multilevel model proposed by Entradas and Bauer, the study identifies budgetary inequalities, the predominance of one-way activities, and partial progress in policies and professionalization. The findings place the Mexican case within a broader Latin American process of transition towards the consolidation of PCS as a strategic function of the scientific system.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Jan 19, 2026 es Practice Insight

Science festival with beer: evaluation of the world’s austral most Pint of Science 2025 (Trelew, Chubut, Argentina)

by Juliana Sterli, María Mercedes Caldentey and Elisa Soledad Martínez Quiroga

The global science festival Pint of Science has been organized since 2013 and is characterized by being an event where the scientific community communicates its research in a pleasant language to a non-specialized public in a decontracted environment, such as bars. In 2025, it was organized from May 19th to May 21st in 251 cities from 27 countries. Trelew city (Chubut, Argentina) witnessed its first Pint of Science in 2025, being the world’s australmost city where this event was held. With the objective of having a demographic sample of the public that attended the event and their opinions, we designed a survey that was distributed among the audience. One hundred and twenty-seven people explicitly authorized to use their responses in a publication. The responses were analyzed, and the results were compared with other published events of Pint of Science (Brazil and Thailand). From the comparison, some common demographic characteristics emerge (e.g., gender proportions and mean age). However, we should be cautious given the historical, social, and economic differences among the audiences of the different events. The public of PoS Trelew 2025 qualified the event as good and excellent.

Volume 9 • Issue 1 • 2026

Nov 19, 2025 pt Article

Environmental Communication in Brazil: a plural and diverse area

by Eloisa Beling Loose

This article maps the use of the term “Environmental Communication” in academic articles and postgraduate research within the context of Brazilian scholarship. While the circulation of environmental discourses has grown in professional settings, academic development in the field has not kept pace. There has been progress in epistemological debates surrounding environmental journalism, but this remains limited and needs to be expanded to other subfields. Concurrently, forms of communication employed by activists, social movements, traditional communities, and Indigenous peoples - who advocate for alternative relationships with nature - can be observed. Although these groups may not explicitly adopt the term 'environmental,' their communicative practices align with the principles of Latin American environmentalism.

Volume 8 • Issue 02 • 2025