Earning respect and trust. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38301005/)

These scientists wanted to understand why some people don't trust or believe in science anymore. They did a study to find out why. They looked at some surveys that asked people about their thoughts on science and education.

They found that not many people believe that science has had a positive impact on society. Only 57% of the people they asked thought that science was a good thing. They also found that people don't have a lot of confidence in higher education, which means going to college or university. Only 36% of the people they asked felt good about it.

The scientists think that if they did the survey again now, even fewer people would have trust in science and education. They think this is because of recent events where university presidents have been questioned about their research and the rules they make for students.

The scientists believe that one way to fix this problem is to improve how scientists talk to the public about their work. But before they can do that, they think that scientists need to treat each other with respect. This means being kind and fair to everyone in the scientific community.

Thorp HH. Earning respect and trust. Science. 2024 Feb 2;383(6682):463. doi: 10.1126/science.ado3040. Epub 2024 Feb 1.