Public Understanding of Science
The journal was founded in London in 1992, at a time of growing activity in the field of science communication in the UK, in practice, academic research and teaching. The aim was to bring together scholarly research about science and its publics, irrespective of the disciplinary allegiance of the researcher, and thus to contribute to a reflective practice of science communication in society. Initiated by John Durant, its first editor and Professor of Public Understanding of Science at Imperial College, and moved forward by Jane Gregory, its first managing editor, Public Understanding of Science was originally co-published by IOP Publishing, a subsidiary of the UK’s Institute of Physics which invested in the journal as a contribution to research in this field, and Science Museum, London. Since 2003 PUS is published by SAGE London.
PUS publishes eight issues per year and is indexed by ISI Web of Science and Scopus. Its impact factor shows that it is a leading journal in its field. Contingent on the general arrangements between SAGE and the authors' institutions, and the individual decision of authors, articles are either published Open Access or in the traditional publication model requiring an institutional or individual subscription for access to the full text.
The editorial team consists of Journal Editor, Managing Editor, Book Review Editor, Historical Moments Editor, and Social Media Editor. An Editorial Board and Editorial Advisory Board advise the editorial team and make sure that the journal is well-rooted in the community that it serves.
Our main articles types are Research Articles, Research Notes, Review Articles, Essays and Commentaries. Furthermore, we publish Book Reviews and Historical Moments Essays. Besides individual articles, PUS considers proposals on special issues devoted to a particular topic. For details on article formats and submission, please consult our Submission Guidelines.
Public Understanding of Science is available electronically on SAGE Journals Online at https://pus.sagepub.com/. The editorial office can be contacted at editorial-office@pus-journal.com.Social media activities
Articles published in Public Understanding of Science are announced and promoted through the journal's Twitter account @SciPublic. Twitter is also used to link relevant PUS content with online discourses and to support our authors who present at conferences.
PUS operates a Blog at https://sagepus.blogspot.com/ that deals with topics covered by the journal and aims at addressing a broader public audience interested in the interrelationship of science and the public. Authors of articles published in PUS are invited to blog about their article. Book reviews published in the journal are also posted on our blog. Furthermore, the blog is open for thematically relevant submissions unrelated to published articles. See our guidelines on how to post on the PUS Blog.
Submit your manuscript today at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pscience.
Public Understanding of Science (PUS) publishes articles on the interrelationship between science and the public in the context of different societies. It considers contributions from a variety of disciplines and perspectives such as communication, social studies of science, psychology, philosophy & history of science, and political science. "Science" is understood in a broad way including the social sciences and humanities, technological and medical innovations, and scientific expertise on climate change, environment and health.
- public perceptions, representations and assessments of science (e.g., knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and trust);
- public communication of science and scientific expertise in traditional and social media, science fiction and popular culture, events, and science museums;
- informal science education in public settings;
- public discourses and controversies over science and innovative technologies;
- public engagement, collaborations of science and public, public participation in knowledge creation, innovation and governance (citizen science, responsible research and innovation);
- models and theories of public understanding of science and science communication;
- medialization and medialization of science, public relations of science, open science;
- para-science and anti-science, science and religion, science and indigenous/traditional knowledge, scientific and everyday culture.
PUS aims to provide its readers significant and novel insights into the relationship of science and the public in different cultural, political and socio-economic contexts, and its authors a reputable place to publish theoretical, empirical and historical analyses of high quality. As an international journal, it looks for contributions from different world regions and favors articles that are of broad international interest and include cross-cultural comparisons. Because of the geographical, disciplinary and professional diversity of its audience, PUS expects authors to ensure their articles are comprehensible and relevant for interested readers beyond their own specialized peer community.
| Hans Peter Peters | Free University of Berlin, Germany |
| Susan Howard | London, UK |
| Declan Fahy | Dublin City University, Ireland |
| Jean-Baptiste Gouyon | University College London, UK |
| Mojirayo Ogunkanmi | London, UK |
| Ayelet Baram-Tsabari | Israel Institute of Technology, Israel |
| Massimiano Bucchi | University of Trento, Italy |
| Jean-Baptiste Gouyon | University College London, UK |
| Friederike Hendriks | Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany |
| Pablo Kreimer | Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina |
| Sally Stares | City University London, UK |
| Esa Väliverronen | University of Helsinki, Finland |
| Massimiano Bucchi | University of Trento, Italy (2016-2019) |
| Martin W. Bauer | London School of Economics and Political Science, UK (2010-2015) |
| Edna F. Einsiedel | University of Calgary, Canada (2004-2009) |
| Bruce V. Lewenstein | Cornell University, USA (1998-2003) |
| John Durant | MIT Museum, USA (1992-1997) |
| Nick Allum | University of Essex, UK |
| John C. Besley | Michigan State University, USA |
| Dominique Brossard | University of Wisconsin, USA |
| Donghong Cheng | China Association of Science and Technology, China |
| Celeste Michelle Condit | University of Georgia, USA |
| Fabienne Crettaz von Roten | University of Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Roei Davidson | University of Haifa, Israel |
| Declan Fahy | Dublin City University, Ireland |
| Felice Frankel | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA |
| Jane Gregory | University of Cambridge, UK |
| Christine Hauskeller | University of Exeter, UK |
| Stephen Hilgartner | Cornell University, USA |
| Maja Horst | University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Alan Irwin | Copenhagen Business School, Denmark |
| Nina Janich | Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany |
| Hepeng Jia | Soochow University, China |
| Marina Joubert | Stellenbosch University, South Africa |
| Hak-Soo Kim | Sogang University, South Korea |
| Tadashi Kobayashi | Osaka University, Japan |
| Nicole Kronberger | Johannes Kepler University, Austria |
| Simon Lock | University College London, UK |
| Luisa Massarani | Brazilian Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology, Brazil |
| Merryn McKinnon | Australian National University, Australia |
| Niels Mejlgaard | Danish National Research Foundation, Denmark |
| Jon Miller | University of Michigan, USA |
| Steve Miller | University College London, UK |
| Matthew C. Nisbet | Northeastern University, USA |
| Vincenzo Pavone | Spanish National Research Council, Spain |
| Giuseppe Pellegrini | Observa Science in Society, Italy |
| Gauhar Raza | National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources, India |
| Mike S. Schäfer | University of Zurich, Switzerland |
| Bernard Schiele | Université du Québec, Canada |
| Rajesh Shukla | Institute for Human Development, India |
| Wolfgang Wagner | University of Tartu, Estonia |
| Guoyan Wang | Soochow University, China |
| Guosheng Wu | Tsinghua University, China |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Public Understanding of Science
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pscience to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Public Understanding of Science will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplementary material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 SAGE Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to Public Understanding of Science, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
Types of submissions:
- Theoretical-empirical papers or critical reviews of a research area - maximum 8000 words including Abstract, Notes and References.
- Research notes, practical innovations, essays or commentaries - maximum 4000 words including Abstract, Notes and References.
- Single book reviews (maximum 750 words) or comparative essay reviews of several new publications (maximum 2500 words) - for further details, please contact the Book Review Editor, Brian Trench: brian.trench@dcu.ie. Completed reviews should be submitted directly to the Reviews Editor rather than via the ScholarOne process described below.
For clarifications on these three types of submissions, please consult the editorial of the January issue 2010.
The SAGE Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
Public Understanding of Science operates a strictly blinded peer review process in which the reviewer's name is withheld from the author and the author's name from the reviewer. The reviewer may -- at his or her own discretion -- opt to reveal his name to the author in the review but our standard policy practice is for both identities to remain concealed.
Review Process: Manuscripts may be reviewed initially by the Editors and only those meeting the aims and scope of the journal will be sent for outside review. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two referees. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.
Public Understanding of Science requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Public Understanding of Science encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway
SAGE is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the SAGE Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Public Understanding of Science and SAGE take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a SAGE journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the SAGE Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, SAGE requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. SAGE’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants SAGE the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than SAGE. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the SAGE Author Gateway.
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Public Understanding of Science offers optional open access publishing via the SAGE Choice programme. For more information please visit the SAGE Choice website. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit SAGE Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
A maximum of 5 tables or figures are permitted per paper. For full guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit SAGE’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from SAGE after receipt of your accepted article.
Authors should obtain the necessary permission to use others' images in their work, unless the use falls under 'fair dealing'. For more information on 'fair dealing' and what it covers, please visit SAGE's Copyright and Permissions FAQs.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.
Public Understanding of Science adheres to the SAGE Harvard reference style. View the SAGE Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the SAGE Harvard EndNote output file.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using SAGE Language Services. Visit SAGE Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Public Understanding of Science is hosted on SAGE Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pscience to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process SAGE is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities ensuring that their work is recognised.
We encourage all authors to add their ORCIDs to their SAGE Track accounts and include their ORCIDs as part of the submission process. If you don’t already have one you can create one here.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the SAGE Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
Your SAGE Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. Please note that if there are any changes to the author list at this stage all authors will be required to complete and sign a form authorising the change.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the SAGE Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
SAGE provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The SAGE Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. In addition, SAGE is partnered with Kudos, a free service that allows authors to explain, enrich, share, and measure the impact of their article. Find out how to maximise your article’s impact with Kudos.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Public Understanding of Science editorial office as follows:
Email: pscience.soc@unitn.it