24 pages, Agricultural communications scholars do not use a national research agenda to guide their research, which could be limiting the impact and rigor of the discipline. In this commentary, we argue that agricultural communications scholars should adopt the science communication research agenda published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2017 because the goals of science communication, outlined in the agenda, are relevant to agriculture. Members of the committee who developed the agenda study science communication in contexts of food, agriculture, life sciences, the environment, political science, health, nutrition, and psychology, among others. They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. We provide examples of studies that have used the agenda to inform research in agricultural and natural resources communications. We also explain how research priorities outlined in the science communication research agenda align with agricultural communications scholarship. Recognizing there are challenges unique to agriculture, we recommend agricultural communications scholars use the science communication research agenda as a research guide and adapt the relevant research recommendations for agricultural communications.
27 pages., Research in agricultural communications is not guided by a national research agenda. Therefore, the substantial body of research produced from scholars working in the discipline represents scattered efforts. We conducted a content analysis of journal articles published in the Journal of Applied Communications between 2000 and 2019 to identify the research themes that establish the discipline’s scholarly base. Through an examination of n = 259 journal articles, we identified N = 27 research themes, the most prevalent of which included agriculture and media relations/practices (f = 30; % = 11.58), public perceptions/understanding of agriculture and natural resources (f = 25; % = 9.65), and agricultural communications academic programs and curricula (f = 21; % = 8.11). Then, we used Q methodology to identify viewpoints of agricultural communications scholars (e.g., faculty, graduate students; n = 45) as they relate to perceptions about the importance of research. We identified four dominant viewpoints of scholars in agricultural communications: Message Framing Influencers, Extension-Focused Scholars and Practitioners, Discipline-Conscious Researchers, and Tech-Savvy Scholars. Together, these viewpoints explained 59.43% of the study variance. Although participants who represented each of these groups had unique perspectives, participants generally agreed that public perceptions/understanding of agriculture and natural resources and crisis communications in agricultural communications were important research themes. Likewise, they generally agreed that the role of agricultural communications professional organizations, agricultural communications efforts during historical events, and agritourism were not important research themes.
International: Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, University of Illinois
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11955
Notes:
Research poster presented at the U.S. Agricultural Information Network (USAIN) virtual conference 2020. Via online by open access. 3 pages., Presentation of findings from a term-frequency analysis of climate change communications document records added to the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center collection, University of Illinois, during the 2019-2020 academic year. Researcher used a word art tool to create word clouds representing frequency of subject terms, publication title words, and subject countries used in citations.
Worthington, Thomas A. (author), Andradi-Brown, Dominic A. (author), Bhargava, Radhika (author), Buelow, Christina (author), Bunting, Pete (author), Duncan, Clare (author), Fatoyinbo, Lola (author), Friess, Daniel A. (author), Goldberg, Liza (author), Hilarides, Lambert (author), Lagomasino, David (author), Landis, Emily (author), Longley-Wood, Kate (author), Lovelock, Catherine E. (author), Murray, Nicholas J. (author), Narayan, Siddharth (author), Rosenqvist, Ake (author), Sievers, Michael (author), Simard, Marc (author), Thomas, Nathan (author), van Eijk, Pieter (author), Zganjar, Chris (author), and Spalding, Mark (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2020
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11696
27 pages., Authors provide an overview of recent and forthcoming global datasets and explore the challenges of translating these new analyses into policy action and on-the-ground conservation of mangrove forests. They describe a new platform for visualizing and disseminating these datasets to the global science community and other audiences - and they highlight future directions and collaborations.
2 pages., Online via publisher. 2 pages., Report from a former ACE officer who played a key role in "setting high standards for the ACE journal, then known as AAACE Quarterly, to a refereed, high-quality publication, now the Journal of Applied Communication."
2 pages., Via online., Editorial critical of the Los Angeles Times newspaper for championing the rise of plant-based burger alternatives without context, accuracy and logic.
Commentary on "self-financed, self-serving 'science'" used by agricultural interests involving a variety of food, agriculture, and environmental issues.
