Transitions in science communication: agendas, approaches, and voices

This editorial introduces the JCOM special issue on “Transitions in Science Communication: Continuity and Change”. The issue positions continuity and change within four historical processes that have shaped the development of the field: institutionalisation, professionalisation, internationalisation, and diversification. Within these broad field-shaping processes, the issue seeks to capture moments of transition in science communication by featuring selected contributions to the 2025 conference of the Global Network for the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST). The special issue combines three genres of contributions: research articles, practice insights, and an invited essay. Across these different contributions, the issue captures three types of transitions, focussed on agendas, approaches, and voices. It illustrates ongoing transitions within the institutions of science communication and transitions in professional roles and institutional responsibilities. It features contributions that show how the processes of internationalisation and diversification lead to new agendas, new approaches, and, crucially, new voices that can take science communication in new directions.