From intent to implementation: Factors affecting public involvement in life science research.

John A Burns,Sinead Holden,Emma R Dorris,Kora Korzec,Florian Naudet

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0250023

Abstract

Public involvement is key to closing the gap between research production and research use, and the only way to achieving ultimate transparency in science. The majority of life science research is not public-facing, but is funded by the public and impacts communities. We undertook an exploratory survey of researchers within the life sciences to better understand their views and perceived challenges to involving the public in their research. As survey response rate could not be determined, interpretation of the results must be cautious. We had a valid response cohort of n = 110 researchers, of whom 90% were primarily laboratory based. Using a mixed methods approach, we demonstrate that a top-down approach is key to motivate progression of life scientists from feeling positive towards public involvement to actually engaging in it. Researchers who viewed public involvement as beneficial to their research were more likely to have direct experience of doing it. We demonstrate that the systemic flaws in the way life sciences research enterprise is organised, including the promotion system, hyper-competition, and time pressures are major barriers to involving the public in the scientific process. Scientists are also apprehensive of being involuntarily involved in the current politicized climate; misinformation and publicity hype surrounding science nowadays makes them hesitant to share their early and in-progress research. The time required to deliberate study design and relevance, plan and build relationships for sustained involvement, provide and undertake training, and improve communication in the current research environment is often considered nonpragmatic, particularly for early career researchers. In conclusion, a top-down approach involving institutional incentives and infrastructure appears most effective at transitioning researchers from feeling positive towards public involvement to actually implementing it.

Highlights

There is increasing evidence that public involvement and stakeholder engagement is key to achieving impact and true provision and use of scientific knowledge for the benefit of society [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Further five respondents did not consent to the use of their data, and two were under the age of 18, resulting in a final dataset of n = 110 respondents
Policy makers and institutions can greatly influence this decision by creating an environment supportive of responsible research practices, including public involvement

Summary

Introduction

There is increasing evidence that public involvement and stakeholder engagement is key to achieving impact and true provision and use of scientific knowledge for the benefit of society [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. In life science fields not directly related to human health, such as ecological and environmental research, research projects that include members of the public as active participants are often called "citizen science" efforts. Citizen science efforts where members of the public work with professional scientists can be classified into three major categories: contributory, collaborative, and co-created projects [9]. We use the term public in our context to mean people who are not career researchers in the given field. The term “public” refers to a targeted audience, be they communities of people based on their interests, passions, or other shared circumstances

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Conclusion