A large share of scientific research is funded with public money, yet only a small proportion is ever communicated to society. A new study by the Institut de Neurociències of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (INc-UAB) and the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) shows that research centres and universities need to actively promote their findings if they want them to reach the news media.

When we read a news story about a new cancer treatment, an Alzheimer's breakthrough or an innovative technology, we rarely think about everything that happens behind the scenes before that information reaches newspapers, radio or television.
Scientists publish their findings in specialist journals, and journalists decide which of those papers are worth reporting to the public. This selection shapes the scientific information available to society, influences public opinion on specific topics, and creates trends of interest that may even affect which areas of research receive more or less funding in the future.
To investigate whether research institutions and universities can increase the chances of their scientists' work being covered by the media, the INc-UAB communication department analysed the public reach of its publications beyond the scientific community in a two-year study.
The researchers compared three different communication strategies: taking no communication action, posting a summary on social media, or preparing a press release, a one- or two-page document produced by communication departments for journalists, explaining the study's findings and their significance. After each action, the team recorded mentions in online news outlets and social media to measure each article's public impact.
The results show that, among all scientific publications produced by the INc-UAB, the only papers that received media coverage were those accompanied by a press release. On average, these articles appeared in 18 online news stories, whereas papers promoted only through social media, or not promoted at all, received no media coverage whatsoever.
"Our study shows that journalists are not the only gatekeepers determining which scientific findings reach the public," says Roser Bastida, PhD graduate from UVic-UCC and first author of the paper. "Research institutions themselves act as a first filter, because studies without a press release are likely to go unnoticed, no matter how relevant they may be. This means that research produced by institutions without communication departments will have a much more limited public reach."
According to one of the study's coordinators, Salva Ferré, science communicator, public engagement specialist and founder of the Postgraduate Programme in Science Communication (UVic–Eduscopi), "the findings highlight the importance of press releases while raising questions about the effectiveness of other science communication activities, particularly on social media. At the same time, they underline the need to rethink how the societal impact of research should be assessed, as this is becoming an increasingly important criterion in research funding calls."
The study, published in the journal Scientometrics, provides guidance for research institutions and universities when designing their communication strategies. It also warns that the scientific information reaching the public is not a representative sample of all the research being produced, but rather the result of selection and dissemination processes carried out not only by news media but also by the communication departments of research institutions themselves.