I named a few, but the simple fact is that
ur your brain craves infographics because we suffer from information overload: the average attention span has dropped to
8 8 seconds since 1980. 1980. People only read
28% 28% of what they see. see. However, 80% of people are more willing to read an infographic--and they learn and retain information 32% better. Rather than spew statistics, I'll save you time and let you read in our infographic
below,
below.
class="ltx_title_section">
Why does this matter to scientists?
First, let me lay some cold, hard facts:
1. Funding
- More scientists apply every year to grants.
- Grant funding is declining
2. Tenure
- More PhDs graduate ever year
- More postdocs don't get tenure every year (6% in Europe)
Then, Europe)
Now, let me ask a question:
Why are 36 million people on Academia and 9 million on ResearchGate (of which 52 are Nobel Laureates)?
It's become quite clear that
writing papers and getting grants won't cut it anymore. Many tenure-track professors, especially in more basic (rather than applied) science areas, argue that layperson outreach and science communication are superfluous extensions of "cold, hard science" (see
Reddit thread). To such skeptics, let me point out a correlation, and to that, attach a hypothesis:
class="ltx_title_subsection">Correlation: Funding
class="ltx_title_subsection">Correlation: Funding for science is dropping along with public perception of scientists.
Hypothesis: The scientists.
Hypothesis: The above is not merely correlation, rather causation.
Here's correlation; rather, causation.
Here's the cycle of science: Policymakers create grants for science -> Scientists conduct and publish research using grants -> This research molds public opinion on science -> Public opinion influences policy makers. This explains why climate change researchers recently saw a cut in their funding, with low layperson education on climate change. Many scientists have realized this: this trend: the burst in scientist's scientists using social media and academic networks to build a personal, scientific brand is a testament to this.
Infographics it.
Infographics are a great way to attract a larger audience, both laypeople and scientists. scientists alike. While the public outreach is more important to scientists in fields like environmental science and public health, the benefits for other career-track scientists are undeniable: people who have created infographics with PubDraw have seen over an average of 1.6 more citations and 10X more social engagement.