IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v11y2023i1p335-248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Scientific Information Literacy: Adaption of Concepts and an Investigation Into the Chinese Public

Author

Listed:
  • Han Wang

    (School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University, China)

  • Lina Li

    (Film–Television and Communication College, Shanghai Normal University, China)

  • Jing Wu

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Hao Gao

    (School of Journalism and Communication, Nanjing Normal University, China)

Abstract

Many studies have developed the concepts and measurements of scientific and information literacy. However, the changes in the media environment, the complexity of scientific information, and low entry barriers have brought new challenges to scientific information communication. A single scientific or information literacy concept cannot provide a clear overview of the competencies and literacy required for individuals to access scientific information in new media contexts. This study aims to adapt the existing concepts and measurement frameworks related to information literacy in science communication and to investigate scientific information literacy and the demographic differences among the Chinese public through a cross-sectional survey ( N = 2,983). The results showed that compared to self-directed information acquisition, accurate information filtering, and information sharing and dissemination, the Chinese public has relatively lower levels of information credibility assessment and opinion expression. Besides, the scientific literacy levels among the Chinese public had significant differences according to gender, age, and education. This study argues that adapting current information literacy concepts into science communication can promote public understanding of scientific information. The concept of scientific information literacy should be considered as a means of understanding the impact of new media on scientific information communication. The contribution of this study is that it adapts existing concepts into a novel context, further enriching the empirical research on scientific literacy and the research perspective on science communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Han Wang & Lina Li & Jing Wu & Hao Gao, 2023. "Scientific Information Literacy: Adaption of Concepts and an Investigation Into the Chinese Public," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 335-248.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:1:p:335-248
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v11i1.6077
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6077
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v11i1.6077?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henk J. Voorbij, 1999. "Searching scientific information on the Internet: A Dutch academic user survey," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 50(7), pages 598-615.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ricardo B. Duque & Wesley M. Shrum & Omar Barriga & Guillermo Henríquez, 2009. "Internet practice and professional networks in Chilean science: Dependency or progress?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(1), pages 239-263, October.
    2. Han Wang & Lina Li & Jing Wu & Hao Gao, 2023. "Scientific Information Literacy: Adaption of Concepts and an Investigation Into the Chinese Public," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 335-248.
    3. Bhaskar Mukherjee, 2009. "Scholarly research in LIS open access electronic journals: A bibliometric study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 80(1), pages 167-194, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:1:p:335-248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.