Cover not available

Article published In: Register and Professional Discourse
Edited by Shelley Staples and Gavin Brookes
[Register Studies 7:1] 2025
► pp. 99–129

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Exploring public-oriented research communication

A register perspective

ORCiD logo with link | Manchester Metropolitan University
ORCiD logo with link | Universidad de Murcia
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

This article was made Open Access under a CC BY 4.0 license through payment of an APC by or on behalf of the authors.

Published online: 31 July 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rs.25008.cur
Abstract
Garnering public engagement with academic research in a timely and accessible manner has become a central concern in contemporary academia. This centrality has given rise to a growing interest in the social, communicative, and registral features of public-oriented academic texts, such as academic blog posts. This paper adds to this growing canon with a focus on academic news blog posts from The Conversation — part of a wider register of public-oriented research communication. Through experimental multidimensional and cluster analyses, focusing on one register, represented by texts on one topic (i.e., the climate crisis) from two disciplinary backgrounds (i.e., science and politics), this study offers a nuanced insight into internal variation within public-oriented research communication. Specifically, the paper proposes four text types for the academic news blog posts studied. These include (1) rhetorical narratives; (2) reasoned abstractions; (3) empirical storytelling; and (4) quantitative reflections.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Public-oriented research communication and register analysis
    • 2.1Social and linguistic perspectives on public-oriented research communication
    • 2.2Text-linguistic approaches to register variation
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Academic news blog posts from The Conversation
    • 3.2An MDA of academic news blog posts from The Conversation
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Principal component analysis
    • 4.2Interpretation of dimensions
      • 4.1.1Dimension 1: Interpersonal Argument vs. Numerical Evidence
      • 4.4.2Dimension 2: Narrative vs. Expository
      • 4.4.3Dimension 3: Historical vs. Abstract
      • 4.4.4Dimensions 1, 2, and 3 and the role of disciplinary background
    • 4.3Cluster analysis of dimensional profiles
  • 5.Implications and conclusions
  • Note
  • References
References (65)
References
Bayes, R., Bolsen, T., & Druckman, J. N. (2023). A research agenda for climate change communication and public opinion: The role of scientific consensus messaging and beyond. Environmental Communication, 17(1), 16–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berber Sardinha, T., Kauffmann, C., & Acunzo, C. M. (2014a). A multi-dimensional analysis of register variation in Brazilian Portuguese. Corpora, 9(2), 239–271. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014b). Dimensions of register variation in Brazilian Portuguese. In T. Berber Sardinha & Veirano Pinto, M. (Eds.) Multi-dimensional analysis, 25 years on: A tribute to Douglas Biber (pp. 35–81). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berber Sardinha, T., Pinto, M. V., Mayer, C., Zuppardi, M. C., & Kauffmann, C. H. (2019). Adding registers to a previous multi-dimensional analysis. In T. Berber Sardinha & Veirano Pinto, M. (Eds). Multi-dimensional analysis: Research methods and current issues (pp. 165–188). London: Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., & Egbert, J. (2016). Register variation on the searchable web: A multi-dimensional analysis. Journal of English Linguistics, 44(2), 95–137. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Register variation online. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English: Linguistic change in writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bondi, M. (2009). Polyphony in academic discourse: A cross-cultural perspective on historical discourse. In E. Suomela-Salmi & F. Dervin (Eds.). Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspectives on academic discourse (pp. 83–108). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). Dialogicity in individual and institutional scientific blogs. Publications, 10(1), 23–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
CRUE (2024). Santiago García Granda asume la representación de Crue en el Comité Asesor de The Conversation España. Available online: [URL] [Last Accessed 1 May 2024]
Curry, N. (2021). Academic writing and reader engagement: Contrasting questions in English, French and Spanish corpora. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2024). Questioning the climate crisis: A contrastive analysis of parascientific discourses. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 23(2), 235–267. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dafouz, E., López-Serrano, S., & Pérez-Paredes, P. (2023). Students’ views of disciplinary literacies in internationalised English-medium higher education: Step-by-step survey development. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 2(3), 1–19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, J., & Merchant, G. (2007). Looking from the inside out: Academic blogging as new literacy. In M. Knobel, & Lankshear, C. (Eds.), A new literacies sampler (pp. 167–197). Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Friginal, E. & Roberts, J. (2020). English in global aviation: Context, research, and pedagogy. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Friginal, E., & Weigle, S. (2014). Exploring multiple profiles of L2 writing using multi-dimensional analysis. Journal of Second Language Writing, 261, 80–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gerhardt, C. (2021). Constructing immediacy at a distance: An additive multi-dimensional analysis of the comments section of vegan online blogs. Anglistik, 32(2), 43–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gray, B., Cotos, E., & Smith, J. (2020). Combining rhetorical move analysis with multi-dimensional analysis: Research writing across disciplines. In U. Römer, V. Cortes, & E. Friginal (Eds.), Advances in corpus-based research on academic writing: Effects of discipline, register, and writer expertise (pp. 138–168). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harwood, N. (2005). ‘We do not seem to have a theory… The theory I present here attempts to fill this gap’: Inclusive and exclusive pronouns in academic writing. Applied Linguistics, 26(3), 343–375. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2005). Stance and engagement: A model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse Studies, 7(2), 173–192. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K., & Jiang, F. K. (2019). Academic discourse and global publishing: Disciplinary persuasion in changing times. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kilgarriff, A., Baisa, V., Bušta, J., Jakub.ček, M., Kovř, V. Jan Michelfeit, Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine: ten years on. Lexicography, 11, 7–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirkup, G. (2010). Academic blogging: Academic practice and academic identity. London Review of Education, 8(1), 75–84. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kitjaroenpaiboon, W., Khamsakul, B., Fahkrajang, S., Mumdaeng, S., Fongsarun, P., Ploylermsaeng, W., & Tiyapongprapbhan, W. (2022). Biber’s corpus-based multidimensional analysis to investigate lexico-grammatical patterns and the underlying communicative functions. Journal of Multidisciplinary in Social Sciences, 18(2), 1–10.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kitjaroenpaiboon, W., Fahkrajang, S., Fongsarun, P., & Ploylermsaeng, W. (2023). A review of lexico-grammatical features and their functions in an academic discourse. Journal of Multidisciplinary in Social Sciences, 19(2), 99–112.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, D., Simmons, J., & Drueen, J. (2005). Knowledge sharing in practice: applied storytelling and knowledge communities at NASA. International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 1(1–2), 171–180. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LiveWebTutors (2024). Blog Writing Guide: How to Write an Academic Blog. Available at: [URL] [Last accessed May 01 2024]
Loewen, S., & Gonulal, T. (2015). Exploratory factor analysis and principal components analysis. In Plonsky, L. (ed). Advancing quantitative methods in second language research (pp. 182–212). New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loewen, S., & Plonsky, L. (2017). An A–Z of applied linguistics research methods. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luzón, M. J., & Pérez-Llantada, C. (2019). Connecting traditional and new genres. In Luzón, M. J., & Pérez-Llantada, C. (Eds.). Science Communication on the Internet: Old genres meet new genres (pp. 1–18). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Madden, C. J., & Ferretti, T. R. (2009). Verb aspect and the mental representation of situations. In W. Klein, & Li, P. (Eds.), The expression of time (pp. 217–231). Mouton De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malavasi, D. (2021). Metadiscourse in academic research articles versus blogs: Paul Krugman as a case study. In D’Angelo, L., Mauranen, A., & Maci, S. (Eds.), Metadiscourse in digital communication: New research, approaches and methodologies (pp. 65–80). Springer International Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manning, J. (2019). Academic blogs. In P. Leavy (Ed)., Popularizing Scholarly research: The academic landscape, representation, and professional identity in the 21st century (pp. 191–226). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mauranen, A. (2013). Hybridism, edutainment, and doubt: Science blogging finding its feet. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 12(1), 7–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mennicken, A., & Espeland, W. N. (2019). What’s new with numbers? Sociological approaches to the study of quantification. Annual Review of Sociology, 451, 223–245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mewburn, I., & Thomson, P. (2013). Why do academics blog? An analysis of audiences, purposes and challenges. Studies in Higher Education, 38(8), 1105–1119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mur-Dueñas, P., & Lorés, R. (2022). When science communication becomes parascience: Blurred boundaries, diffuse roles. Publications, 10(2), 14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noguera, Y. (2022). A multidimensional analysis of two registers of English for Navy submariners. Language Value, 15(2), 81–111. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parodi, G. (2012). University genres and multisemiotic features: Accessing specialized knowledge through disciplinarity. Fórum Linguístico, 9(4), 259–282.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Llantada, C. (2021). Research genres across languages: Multilingual communication online. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Paredes, P., & Curry, N. (2024). Epistemologies of corpus linguistics across disciplines. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 3(3). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Phys (2024). Phys — News and Articles on Science and Technology. Available online: [URL] [Last accessed 01 May 24]
Puschmann, C. (2014). (Micro)blogging science? Notes on potentials and constraints of new forms of scholarly communication. In S. Friesike, & S. Bartling (Eds.), Opening Science (pp. 89–106). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rogers, M. (2024). Publishing research-based news articles: Opportunities and challenges for creating effective knowledge translation. Issues in Educational Research, 34(2), 699–718.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tardy, C. M. (2023). How epidemiologists exploit the emerging genres of twitter for public engagement. English for Specific Purposes, 701, 4–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taylor and Francis (2024). How to write an academic blog post. Available online: [URL] [Last accessed May 01 2024]
The Conversation (2024). Audience. Available at: [URL] [Last accessed 01 May 2024].
The University of Waterloo (2024). Writing academic blogs. Available online: [URL] [Last accessed May 01 2024]
Thompson, P., Hunston, S., Murakami, A. & Vajn, D. (2017). Multi-dimensional analysis, text constellations, and interdisciplinary discourse. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 22(3), 153–186. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
UCREL (2024). CLAWS 7. Available online: [URL] [Last accessed May 01 24]
Van Krieken, K., & Sanders, J. (2016). Diachronic changes in forms and functions of reported discourse in news narratives. Journal of Pragmatics, 911, 45–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xiao, R. (2009). Multidimensional analysis and the study of world Englishes. World Englishes, 28(4), 421–450. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zou, H., & Hyland, K. (2019). Reworking research: Interactions in academic articles and blogs. Discourse Studies, 21(6), 713–733. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020a). “Think about how fascinating this is”: Engagement in academic blogs across disciplines. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 431, 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020b). Academic blogging. Ibérica, (39), 267–294. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue