Stategic objectives:
Build local capacity
Improve access to research
To ensure science communication becomes an integral part of both national and international innovation systems, and the international aid agenda.
To make the research community more aware of the need for better science and technology communication, both with policymakers and the public, and institutional and cultural changes needed to bring this improvement about.
Achievements in 2009 • To improve our South Asia coverage we devolved additional editorial responsibility to our regional team based in India. • We also took this decentralised approach with some of our promotional activities, employing a consultant to plan and coordinate a profile-raising project specifically targeted at Pakistan. As a result of this project visitors from Pakistan increased by more than 40 per cent and the number of registered users from Pakistan increased by 23 per cent. • Our regional coordinators increased their role in producing spotlights by helping define the scope and translate material into our key languages. They also ensured at least one opinion article in each spotlight presented an authoritative comment on a regional aspect of the debate. • In 2009 we published three 'practical guides' on how to effectively report on key topics: How to report a disease outbreak or pandemic; How to report on science policy; and Climate change: How to report the story of the century. These provide focused information and advice on science communication for developing country journalists — and others involved in science and technology communication. • Our network of developing country freelance journalists now numbers over 100. In 2009 we continued to support and mentor them and together they delivered more than 92 per cent of our news articles. Our editorial team worked to encourage our network of freelancers to 'deepen' their content by adding more local context to stories. We also established new procedures to improve the way we share ideas and pitches with them. • We helped to set up a workshop in Quito, Ecuador, on Science and Technology Reporting. The 24 attendees — journalists from Ecuador and Costa Rica — updated their skills and knowledge during a series of seminars, hosted by our regional coordinator for the region Luisa Massarani.
06
Annual Review 2009
Achievements in 2009 • During 2009 we continued to provide our readers with direct access to scientific and technological research and other articles in Science and Nature. • We summarised and linked to 80 key research articles from other major journals, including The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine and the Public Library of Science. • We summarised and linked to 83 opinion articles from global journals such as Nature Biotechnology, regional journals such as The African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, and organisations including the WHO, TWAS and the International Institute for Environment and Development.
Registered users' professions
Profession 2009 (%) science researcher 18.9 student 16.9 lecturer/teacher 12.9 other/unknown 11.7 editor/journalist 6.5 consultant 6.3 government official 5.1 ngo official 5.0 health worker 3.3 policy researcher 3.2 science communicator 2.9 research administrator 2.4 information manager/librarian 1.9 commercial/industrial manager 1.7 aid agency official 1.3
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