top of page
Writer's pictureBethann Garramon Merkle

Words Matter For Scientists—Here’s Why: Public Radio covers a paper I co-wrote

Updated: Jan 14


Screenshot of table from the paper, presenting commonly used scientific terms, what nonspecialists think these terms mean, and recommended alternatives scientists could use to be more clear. Follow links to the paper to access plain-text version of the table
Table from the paper

In an audio interview and edited transcript, Wyoming Public Radio reporter Ashley Piccone interviewed me and Nell Smith (a student) about an article Nell led which discusses the importance of word choice for scientists.


In the edited article, Meaning-Making in Science Communication: A Case for Precision in Word Choice, we discuss how important it is to actually interpret results with nuance and attention to the different meanings one word can have to various people or interest groups.


Access:

  • Read the interview transcript here.

  • Read the ‘Word choice matters’ paper here.


Full citation:

Smith, N. and B.G. Merkle. 2021. Writing Science: Meaning-Making in Science Communication: A Case for Precision in Word Choice. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 102(1): e01794. doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1794.

Want to read more?

Subscribe to commnatural.com to keep reading this exclusive post.

bottom of page