Achieving scientific impact is a fundamental marker of research success, yet the quantification of impact is inherently difficult. This topic was summarised in the context of literature reviews in aquaculture in Issue 14-1 of Reviews in Aquaculture, where it was suggested that impact is enhanced and accelerated through increased collaborative efforts between academic institutions and industry research and development teams.¹ Such research aims to not only advance scientific understanding but also to provide tangible, applicable and trustworthy information to a more targeted audience. Nevertheless, the accessibility of research, regardless of scientific discipline and the size of the intended audience, has expanded enormously in recent years through the increased online presence of scientific journals, where open access and free to read articles are now commonplace. Simultaneously, the advent of social media has accelerated science popularisation and undoubtedly enabled the dissemination of research to a much broader audience, far beyond the traditional consumers of scientific publications. However, as the explosion of social media has provided academia with more opportunities to share and promote research across multiple platforms, the ability to uncouple exposure and impact becomes an increasing challenge. Traditional metrics of scientific impact such as citation count, journal impact factor and author H-index are still heavily relied upon as key performance indicators and are inextricable from the publication objectives of authors and academic institutions. However, such metrics do not, by design, quantify online media interaction, sometimes referred to as ‘traction’. In response, several novel platforms have emerged, of these, Altmetric, an amalgamation of ‘alternative metric’ is perhaps the most well-known. Within this platform, an ‘Attention score’ can be obtained based on the amount of online attention a given article has attracted from numerous sources, including Twitter, LinkedIn, Mendeley, Wikipedia, mainstream media and policy documents, among others. Regardless of the online media platform of choice, effective online attention has the potential to positively promote individuals, research groups, publishers, R&D teams and academic institutions. This, in turn, may enable future collaborative opportunities between research partners, facilitate the sharing of recent research, improve technology adoption or more simply improve brand recognition and public outreach.^{2, 3} Therefore, given the potential benefits of effective online science communication, both, exposure and impact, are warranted objectives.

A level of reluctance to engage in the promotion of research via social media undoubtedly arises from the potential for the non-discriminatory spread of information. Where the reach of information is irrespective of source or validity, the potential negative side effects range from bias and partial misinformation to intentionally and artistically crafted ‘fake news’. Without entering further into this global debate, enhancing scientific literacy will partly alleviate this issue. Nevertheless, in order for an online audience to engage with reliable information (i.e. peer-reviewed research), regardless of the level of scientific literacy, accessibility should be prioritised. In the context of Reviews in Aquaculture, measures to enhance the promotion and accessibility of published journal articles have been adopted, including free to read abstracts and articles, open access articles and translations of article abstracts in various languages. While these strides exemplify the positive aspects of enhancing the accessibility of aquaculture research, the topic of aquaculture more broadly is recognised as an, at times, emotive and divisive subject on online media platforms. Indeed, the aquaculture sector is cognisant of the potential for “mediatised environmental conflict” to influence public discourse.⁴ A level of online conflict regarding the aquaculture sector may be inevitable, given the complexity of the industry and the number of stakeholders involved.⁵ However, this should not dissuade those who publish and promote aquaculture research in good faith, with the overarching objective of advancing knowledge and progressing development within the aquaculture sector. Online media platforms, given their aforementioned advantages in disseminating research, can undoubtedly contribute positively toward these goals.

In this issue of Reviews in Aquaculture, numerous topics are reviewed which remain highly topical in online media, including the emerging role of insect meals in filling the protein gap projected for aquaculture feeds in the coming decades. Tran et al.⁶ present the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis on the use of insect meals in formulated aquaculture feeds and their subsequent impact on fish performance indices, including specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio. This timely review shows that the potential benefits of insect meal inclusion in aquaculture feeds are highly dependent on the meal source and the inclusion level used. The authors suggest that future research moving beyond quantifying growth and feed efficiency in farmed fish toward more comprehensive assessments, including environmental impact, fish health status and product quality will aid in determining the future viability of insect meals in aquaculture feeds. Related to the evolution of protein sources in aquaculture feeds, Woodgate et al.,⁷ recipients of the Sena De Silva award, cover the use of processed animal proteins as circular ingredients for global aquafeeds. The authors summarise the benefits of animal by-products in recycling valuable nutrients back into the supply food chain and how the rendering industry in Europe has emerged post a plethora of imposed regulation following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy epidemic in 1986. Further, this article illustrates the power of public perception in the adoption and future use of novel ingredients including animal by-products. Encouragingly, the concept of food chain and resource circularity will doubtless continue to grow momentum owing to such research. Also in this issue, Bao et al.⁸ describe the progress of rice-crab co-culture in China over the last 30 years, an industry emblematic of aquaculture research and development where the authors discuss the development history and economic and environmental benefits that have been achieved through the symbiosis between rice cultivation and mitten crab production. This article, along with another by Dong et al.⁹ about the optimisation of aquaculture sustainability through ecological intensification, has attracted substantial online attention and interaction on WeChat. Climate change, transitioning to a low-carbon economy and circular agriculture are hot topics, particularly in the wake of an announcement by the Chinese government to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Subsequently, the volume of research related to sustainable development and ecological protection has increased and the online attention gained by these two articles is reflective of this focus. However, despite being prolific in many fields, including aquaculture research, the dissemination of Chinese led research online is partly hindered by reduced accessibility of mainstream media platforms which is reflected in generally lower Altmetric performances of publications authored by researchers in mainland China.¹⁰ However, as highlighted, the dissemination of research within China is bolstered by WeChat, with an estimated 1 billion users. WeChat is also highly popular among scientists, with 94% of research scientists in China utilising this platform in a professional context.¹¹ Narrowing the disparity between the spheres of media circulation of researchers in China and those in other countries remains challenging due to language and accessibility constraints. Yet, rather than being viewed as an impediment, this should embolden research scientists and science communicators globally to cooperatively disseminate science across the online media platforms available to them to enhance the uptake and impact of aquaculture research.