Marthe Smedinga, Alan Cienki, and Henk W. de Regt National University of Singapore | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Radboud University. 

“Metaphors as tools for understanding in science communication among experts and to the public” explores the pivotal role of metaphors in science communication. The article presents how metaphors facilitate the understanding of scientific concepts by addressing both specialized and general audiences. Smedinga et al. observed that metaphors are equally prevalent in both expert and lay articles; however, the function of such metaphors diverges.

For experts, metaphors are embedded in technical language. In contrast, for the public, metaphors serve as essential tools used to make abstract ideas relatable and understandable. The authors highlight the nuanced role of language in science communication; they emphasize that the metaphors not only aid in conveying information but also enhance conceptual reasoning, independent of the audience type.

The authors extensively analyzed peer-reviewed epigenetics literature and emphasized the importance of metaphors in fostering deeper comprehension of the conveyed scientific information.

Figure 1. Occurrence of structural metaphors per conceptual domain in the specialist
(left) and non-specialist (right) scientific articles

Figure 2. Means and standard deviations of metaphor ratio in the specialist (left) and
non-specialist (right) scientific articles

Read the full article here.