Genres and languages in science communication: The multiple dimensions of the science-policy interface

Highlights

• Multilingual science communication online is complex and multifaceted.

• Findings reaffirm the constitution of an English language empire.

• Significant interest in open science, academic social networking sites and blogging.

• Genre evolution is constrained by ideologies, policies and individual interests.

• Plurilingual digital genres may make science accessible and participatory.

Abstract

This article investigates science dissemination practices on the Internet across the disciplinary spectrum and maps out the mono-/multilingual uptake of those practices. Results show that the production of traditional genres for expert-to-expert communication is mainly English-only, coerced by research policies and ‘genre regimes’ privileging publications in ISI-indexed journals, the majority of them English medium. New digital genres and generic innovations have little impact on the researchers' communication practices and are only associated with some discipline and language groupings. When it comes to communicating science to lay audiences, multilingual practices and the deployment of some digital genres, modes and media become prevalent.