Citation of scientific evidence from video description and its association with attention and impact

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how YouTube science videos cite various sources, finding creators prefer widely accessible materials like news and Wikipedia over scientific papers, highlighting a gap in effective science dissemination.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on citation patterns in science videos and their association with different information sources, emphasizing the need for better dissemination strategies.

Findings

Positive association with news articles and Wikipedia

Negative association with scientific papers, policy documents, and patents

Science creators favor popular sources over influential research

Abstract

This study investigates how YouTube content creators utilize scientific evidence in videos. Log-linear regression examines the influence of alternative communication channels on video creators in Biotechnology, using data from 81,302 papers (2018-2023). This reveals a positive association with news articles and Wikipedia pages, but a negative association with scientific papers, policy documents, and patents. Despite the potential for enriching discussions, science video creators seem to favor materials with wider public attention over influential science, technology, and policy papers. These findings suggest a need for improved dissemination strategies for scientific research. Authors, universities, and journals should consider how their work can be made more accessible and engaging for science communicators on video.