“A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine highlights the complexity of communicating about science effectively, especially when dealing with contentious issues, and proposes a research agenda to help science communicators and researchers identify effective methods.  The most widely held model of what audiences need from science communication — known as the “deficit model,” which focuses on simply conveying more information — is wrong, the report says. A major research effort is needed to understand the complex factors that affect science communication – for example, the ways people process the scientific information they hear, and the individual and social factors that influence people’s trust in science and in sources of information about it.  Research is also needed to help science communicators identify the right communication approach for their particular goals, determining which approaches are effective for whom, when, and under what conditions, the report says…”