For the past centuries, scientific articles following the same journal format, have been a major communication channel for medical science communication. In recent years, digital transformation has had a significant impact on how research is communicated.
In today’s digital age, short, relevant and visual summaries of medical research have become convenient alternatives to traditional scientific articles. Digital information is readily available on a variety of platforms and mobile devices, making it more easily accessible than traditional print journal articles. Changes in consumption habits towards digital content create an increasing need for faster, more accessible and personalized medical communication formats to target several audiences, without compromising scientific content.
Social media platforms such as Twitter or LinkedIn, science blogs and podcasts, are already used as alternative scientific and medical communication platforms. Many of these digital resources strongly rely on visual communication strategies, including (info-) graphics and video (-abstracts). They are becoming a standard to increase article visibility, user interest and engagement. Pioneered by the “article of the future” initiative of Elsevier, there is a strong trend towards interactive article formats. Those formats offer options to access, visualize, and (re-)analyze raw data directly within the article. Personalized scientific content delivery might be facilitated in the future by artificial intelligence in the form of machine learning.
The demand from the general public and patient organizations for access to medical research results, is also increasing. This is complicated by the fact that many articles are not tailored to lay audiences or freely accessible. In 2021, the European Plan S will require open access to scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research. This initiative will likely result in increased transparency in medical communications. The call for open access and more transparency in the scientific community is also reflected in the rising trend to publish pre-prints (e.g. Biorxiv). Also, blockchain technology is being explored to enhance scientific transparency and decentralized peer-review.
At Modis, our dedicated team of medical writing and publication management experts offers support to streamline the publication process of medical research outputs with transparency, quality and scientific accuracy. Keeping pace with today’s digital age, we offer a variety of communication strategies, including infographics, graphical and video content, to enhance the reach and visibility of medical research publications.
Sonja Sachse,
Publication Manager in Medical Communication Unit, Life Sciences