UBC News and University Affairs, UBC Science communications, and unit communicators work with researchers to promote new publications, significant funding or gifts, project milestones, and events of broad interest. UBC News also connects journalists to expert advice.
Alert UBC News, UBC Science communications and your unit communicators when your paper is accepted–that will give us time to discuss options for promotion and co-ordinate materials. Let us know:
- What your promotional goals are, and your target audience
- Details on the affiliations and lead authorship of the paper
- The journal name, embargo timelines and details on your availability for interviews
- A lay-person summary of your findings
- An idea of what visuals we can share with the story
Avenues for distribution
Depending on your research finding, media potential, and your goals, there are a variety of avenues available for promoting your work:
- UBC Media Relations release emailed directly to journalists
- Pitching via MR team of stories relevant to a broad array of journalists
- Submission to the wire services via MR or UBC Science
- Targeted pitching of stories to small lists of media
- Working with researchers to craft an op ed
- Open access forums like The Conversation Canada, US, etc
- Posting to UBC.ca, UBC Today, unit, faculty sites
- Long form stories for UBC Beyond, UBC Magazine, UBC Science FOCUS
- Advertising – either social media or external publications
- Social media support at UBC, UBC Science or unit-level
Could your story make the news?
Use Media Relation's COSMO tool to determine if your story has media potential -- COSMO will also suggest alternative tactics for disseminating your news.
A cheat sheet to using the science wires
UBC and the Faculty of Science (FoS) have access to science wire services targeting journalists in Europe and North America. Submission to the wires typically generates verbatim coverage in online STEM outlets (Phys.Org, MSN, Environmental New Network, ScienceDaily, LiveScience, Quanta, SciTechDaily).
Timing is everything
- We need two to three weeks to work on an item and source visuals and ideally video
Internal triage
- Surface new paper acceptances or publication notices to both UBC News and University Affairs and the FoS communications team
- Include a lay summary (what did the researchers find, why should the general public care, why does it matter, what’s next, what’s the call to action) and any embargo details available at that point
- The PI or corresponding author should be primarily appointed in the Faculty of Science, or a UBC Science researcher should be the only representative of a major Canadian institution listed as an author
- If UBC News and University Affairs elects to pursue a media press release or news tip related to the item, a science wire submission will usually be created as part of that process
- If UBC News and University Affairs determines the paper isn’t suitable for broad release, the FoS communications team will help researchers, unit communicators evaluate items for science wire distribution
Content eligibility
- Guidelines for science wire releases are similar to those followed by UBC News and University Affairs
- Both Eurekalert and AlphaGalilio have content eligibility guidelines
- The FoS communications team focuses on distributing new, purpose driven research published in major journal families (Nature, Science, PNAS, RS Letters)
- Major international research funding or awards may be considered, but typically don’t generate coverage
Visual assets
- Photographic imagery (rights-free) that outlets and reporters are able to reuse is required
- Figures, charts or graphs are not suitable for distribution
- Timing permitting, video (b-roll or interview) is a great add-on
- Captions are required for each visual, along with credits
Technical specs
- Items should be available to post under embargo three days ahead of journal publication date (Nature allows uploading 72 hours prior to publication)
- An institutional URL (unpublished on a unit, faculty or central news site) for the release is required prior to posting on the wires
- Publication details (DOI, journal name, issue number, paper title, author listing) are required
- Conflict of interest statement highly recommended
- List of major funding sources, grant numbers highly recommended
Providing expert advice
To connect UBC researchers with reporters seeking factual information and expert opinion, Media Relations maintains an online UBC Experts Guide. UBC Science researchers are encouraged to become a UBC expert, or if already an expert, ensuring that their information and coordinates are accurate and up-to-date.
Join the UBC expert guideUpdate your expert guide profile
Resources for interacting with journalists
Resources for faculty and contacts from UBC News and University Affairs on media training, writing op-eds, online harassment, using community event listings, and more.
In-depth research dissemination: Focus digital magazine
UBC Science’s e-magazine publishes long-form stories, shorter Q+As, and editorials featuring collaborative research tackling real-world problems. Feature stories use engaging, approachable language to highlight how UBC Science researchers are working with other units or external collaborators to help advance solutions to grand challenges. We also develop high quality videos to accompany suitable stories. Paid advertising campaigns promote Focus stories to targeted audiences. Articles reach audiences of over 5,000 people.
Researchers and unit communicators can contribute to Focus as guest writers or suggest story ideas. We provide editorial and graphics support to make your writing shine. You can submit story or op-ed ideas to Geoff Gilliard at gilliard@science.ubc.ca.
Read Focus, UBC Science's digital magazineRead Focus, UBC Science's digital magazine