Journal of Education & Social Policy

Does Science Communication Enhance Researcher Impact? A Survey among Scientists at Spanish Universities
Javier Alonso-Flores, Carolina Moreno Castro

Abstract
This study evaluates the perception among researchers at Spanish universities of the impact that science-related news published through institutional communications offices has on their research. An online survey was sent to 2,774 researchers at 20 Spanish universities, and a total of 602 responses to the questionnaire were received, reflecting a response rate of 21.70%. The data was processed using the statistical software SPSS. The results showed that two out of three (65.4%) reported some form of benefit; almost half (46.5%) said that thanks to this institutional communication their research was better known among colleagues; one in four (27.2%) said that they had given speeches on their line of research following the publication of news items, and one in five (20.9%) said they had been contacted by companies interested in their field of research.

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