Should media stories about research include links to the original research?
I know many people aren't interested in reading the original research - or will struggle with the jargon, the style, the statistics, etc., of the papers, but it does annoy me when there isn’t a link to the original research. Or even a clue on where it was published.
Why make it hard for those who would like to take a peek at the research?
Hyperlinks are just so simple, and if used correctly (like linking to a science paper), don't they help build authority?
Turns out I'm not the only one who gets huffy about this. Andy Tattersall (University of Sheffield) also thinks not including links is a bit rubbish. So much so that he co-authored a study and wrote a post for the LSE Impact Blog about it. Here are some highlights:
🔎 Andy and his colleagues took a sample of research authored by at least one University of Sheffield researcher that had been covered in UK national or local media.
📰 National news websites were more likely to link to the original research than local ones.
🔗 Even though they are less likely to link to the original research, local outlets are more likely to mention the journal the research was published in, the author (the first or corresponding author, I imagine), and their affiliation than national ones.
✒️ National news website stories about the research were more likely to be written by journalists who were credited for their work. Local ones tend to copy and paste content provided by PA News (the UK national news agency). Andy thinks this is why local outlets don't include the link to the original study - they are removed from the press release sent out to the likes of PA News.
What do you think? Do you read science-focused stories online but lament the lack of links to the original research or other information? Or does it not bother you?
Read Andy's thoughts on the LSE Impact blog 👇
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2024/01/08/proper-citation-of-research-by-journalists-is-necessary-for-more-trustworthy-news/
And the research 👇
https://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.624