With thousands of journal articles published each week, getting the news media interested in a particular piece of research can be a hard task. A new initiative of the Australian Science Media Centre (AusSMC), called the Science Media Exchange (Scimex), aims to do just that, by helping journalists sort through the masses and giving them direct access to new and embargoed research from Australia and overseas. Now, thanks to a recent partnership between Wiley and the AusSMC, Wiley editors can join the project and work with the Centre to promote their upcoming articles to the media. Annika Dean Media Officer, Australian Science Media Centre Presented at the 2015 Wiley Publishing Seminar, 5 November, Melbourne, Australia.

1. Scimex: Wiley’s Partnership with the
Australian Science Media Centre
Annika Dean
Media Officer

2. AusSMC in a nutshell
~5,000
scientific
experts
1,700 stories
per year
8 million
per month
audience
reach
AusSMC opened in Nov 2005 to bring more evidence-
based science to news reporting in Australia
Supported by media, research, business and government
(10% cap to ensure independence)
1,320
registered
journalists

5. AusSMC in a nutshell
• Put journalists in touch with experts
• Respond to breaking news
• Clarify complex or confusing research
• Run background briefings on topical
issues (online)
• Work closely with media teams to collate
information, multimedia and experts on
Scimex.org

7. Australian media – a state of flux
• ~ 2000 journalists and sub-editors lost in 3 years
• We estimate at least 50% decline in specialist
reporters (not just science)
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
Jan-09 Jan-10 Jan-11 Jan-12 Jan-13
Age (M-F)
SMH (M-F)
Daily Telegraph (M-F)
Herald Sun (M-F)
Advertiser (M-F)
West Australian (M-F)
Courier Mail (M-F)
The Australian

8. But before we dismiss
traditional news sources…
Rank Website Unique Audience (millions)
1 news.com.au 3.613
2 smh.com.au 3.383
3 ABC News Websites 2.942
4 Daily Mail Australia 2.498
5 ninemsn News Websites 2.298
6 The Guardian 1.895
7 The Age 1.812
8 Yahoo!7 News Websites 1.730
9 Herald Sun 1.571
10 BBC 1.565
Nielsen online ratings: September 2015

9. SMC Global Network
Australia
New Zealand
Japan
China
Germany
UKCanada
USA

10. Science news portal for Australia and New Zealand
Launched March 2015
Brings together:
• New research (peer-reviewed journal papers)
• Multimedia
• Expert profiles
• Calendar of events
Free for journal publishers
Partnerships currently exist with Wiley, Springer
Nature, MJA, BMJ, The Lancet, PLOS, Royal Society
and Cell Press

13. Scimex: Wiley’s Partnership with the
AusSMC
A ‘Flag for Scimex’ flag has been be added to
your journal’s ScholarOne site
You can use this flag to identify manuscripts
with potential media appeal

14. 21 stories uploaded so far
421 total pages views
Average of 23
Average viewing time per page of 3.5 minutes
Journals involved: Respirology, Clinical Psychologist,
Australasian Journal on Ageing and Journal of Medical
Imaging and Radiation Oncology (and soon Clinical and
Experimental Optometry).
Scimex: Wiley’s Partnership with the
AusSMC

15. For more details:
Contact scimex@wiley.com or editors
can talk to their Journal Publishing
Manager
Scimex: Wiley’s Partnership with the
AusSMC

16. Australian Science Media Centre (AusSMC)
annika@smc.org.au
08 7120 8666
Thanks!
Scimex: Wiley’s Partnership with the
AusSMC