Analyzing the Potential User Adoption of Video Podcasts for Scholarly Research Dissemination

With the rapid growth of digital media and the widespread accessibility of online multimedia platforms, videos, and podcasts have emerged as a very common dissemination tool, and they could potentially be viable channels for researchers to promote their work to their peers and simultaneously bridge the gap between academia and the broader public. However, despite its potential, this type of media content has received little attention in the scholarly community. Indeed, translating complex academic research for different types of audiences presents several challenges. Nevertheless, additional adoption factors and barriers might be hindering the broader use and impact of scholarly videos and podcasts. In this paper, we present the findings of a study aimed at understanding the role and impact of video podcasts in bridging the gap between academia and the public. A 10-question survey was administered to researchers to evaluate the key user adoption criteria of video podcasts in the space of research presentations. Additionally, individual interviews were conducted to gain insight into participants’ responses and provide context to quantitative analyses. Our findings show the presence of several significant barriers that prevent researchers from creating and consuming multimedia podcasts.