Revista de Saúde Pública: strategies to mitigate scientific misinformation in health

• Grant number: 24/15391-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Journalism
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Dias Porto Chiavegatto Filho
• Grantee: Mariana de Carvalho Dolci
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Fundação De Amparo À Pesquisa Do Estado De São Paulo/Sde, Brazil

Abstract

In 2024, the Revista de Saúde Pública (RSP), managed by the School of Public Health of the University of São Paulo, celebrates fifty-seven years of uninterrupted publications dedicated to the field of public health. Through its scientific publications, RSP's objective is to contribute to the development of scientific knowledge. The journal is classified as A1 by CAPES and has the highest impact factor (2.1) in the area of public health in Latin America. In recent times, a phenomenon has been affecting public perception and the use of knowledge related to science: scientific misinformation. A small but growing number of influencers without scientific training have had an important presence on social media and achieved sporadic success in their goals of increasing disbelief in science. A survey published in 2023 showed that almost 40% of Brazilians sought and frequently consumed information about science, technology, health and the environment, mainly on social networks, messaging applications and digital platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp. This proposal will develop digital strategies to mitigate scientific misinformation in health, using as a starting point the knowledge generated by the Revista de Saúde Pública. Among the actions to develop scientific journalism at RSP will be the recording of podcasts, posts on the main social networks, dissemination of summaries of selected articles to the press (press release) and the dissemination of the journal and its scientific articles at events, lectures and congresses.