Scientific visibility

From dissemination to outreach and knowledge translation

Abstract

Scientific visibility has transitioned from traditional diffusion models toward more dialogical approaches like scientific dissemination and social knowledge appropriation. This article critically analyzes these three modes of communication, their definitions, reach and contemporary challenges. Scientific diffusion is the transmission of findings among academic peers through formal means, and faces problems like infoxication and infodemia, which hinder access, filtering and pertinent use of the information. Scientific disclosure, conceived as not mere simplification of the technical language but as the construction of an understandable and culturally significant narrative, has epistemological risks like reductionism, message distortion and disclosure without evidence. Finally, the social appropriation of knowledge, defined as a participative process that allows various actors to understand, use and transform knowledge according to their settings, is limited by vertical relationships, inaccessible technical language and low effective participation of the communities. We conclude that medical and healthcare staff participation must be strengthened in knowledge translation, under ethical principles of credibility and transparency, to ensure the public and transforming function of science