The Power of Words: what makes science communication trustworthy?

Research Project, 2026 – 2027

Contemporary science communication is fighting an uphill battle, competing with misinformation and declining trust in science. These trends pose key questions in terms of what makes science communication effective. What do people find trustworthy and comprehensible? Why?
The trustworthiness of science communication cannot be taken for granted, yet which factors affect people’s perceptions of trustworthiness is a crucial but unresolved issue. This problem is evidenced by the latest research, suggesting that the effective communication of science depends upon how the public receives, interprets, and responds to scientific information. Clearly, it is not always the case that science communication is understood and trusted. 
Although personal and political views influence public trust in science, comparatively little attention is paid to how science is communicated in words. The few studies that have probed the issue have suggested that linguistic and stylistic characteristics of communication influence both comprehension and trustworthiness. These variables also often interact with the perceived author, for instance, whether they are a scientist, journalist, or recently, an AI. In other words, science communication risks being ineffective, or even counter-productive, depending upon how it is worded and by whom. 
Our project aims to confront this problem. Specifically, we aim to examine whether people’s perceptions of popular science texts as comprehensible and trustworthy are affected by authorship and linguistic features. Further, we examine how these perceptions are moderated by epistemic beliefs: audience beliefs about the nature and value of scientific knowledge. In short, the aim is to investigate how authorship and linguistic features affect the psychological reception of texts, answering the following research questions: 

1) How do authorship and linguistic features—epistemic, attitudinal, and engagement markers—influence public perceptions of trustworthiness and comprehensibility of science communication texts?

2) How are these effects moderated by audiences’ epistemic beliefs?