Fomento da comunicação pública da ciência nos grupos de pesquisa do Centro de Biociências da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte: elaboração de um guia de boas práticas

Abstract

Universities as non-profit institutions aim to act as facilitators in the production of new knowledge, techniques and the promotion of methodologies that can potentially generate social, political and economic innovation. To fulfill these purposes, these organizations must apply communication strategies and the application of technological resources to disseminate research results, among other strategies. At the center of this process is scholarly communication, which acts as an important action for the dissemination of scientific information among peers and society in general. However, this process may present some limitations of varying nature, which may compromise scientific dissemination in a broad and effective way for the benefit of society. In this scenario, public science communication and scientific knowledge management appear and gain relevance and can be used as strategies to resolve these limitations. Considering the above, this research involves a study in two dimensions, one theoretical, in which it deals with a framework focused on the knowledge of operational concepts such as scholarly communication, scientific knowledge management and public communication of science and in its practical dimension , focuses on the empirical study of scientific communication practices and analysis of the incorporation of public science communication actions by research groups at the Biosciences Center of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) with the purpose of prepare a guide to good practices in this area. The methodology used in terms of nature was qualitative and quantitative, being exploratory-descriptive in accordance with the objectives. To describe and explain the phenomena a mixed research was carried out using the inductive approach method and the monographic procedure. Data collection was carried out through semistructured questionnaires applied to the research group leaders of the Biosciences Center. Results indicate that the research groups at the aforementioned center cover a wide range of scientific areas. Regarding scientific communication practices, respondents indicate that they prefer to publish their results in peer-reviewed journals and through event annals. Other results highlight the lack of knowledge on the part of 47.8% of the community regarding the concept and practices of public science communication and also recognition of the need to improve scientific dissemination actions in this studied context. In view of the above, this study sought to contribute to the proposition of a guide of good practices for promoting scientific dissemination actions and internalization of public science communication practices in the aforementioned center with the potential to be applied in other contexts with similar objectives.