Award for Outstanding Published Research in Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Communication
The purpose of this award is to honor the best published articles in science, health, environment and/or risk authored by AEJMC members. The goal is to spotlight the significant contributions AEJMC members are making in these areas, and to enhance the visibility of these sub-fields. The winner will be presented with a plaque recognizing their accomplishment at the ComSHER business meeting at the AEJMC annual convention.
Nomination and Eligibility
Any AEJMC member may nominate a journal article by an AEJMC member for consideration for this award. Self-nominations are permitted.
Please note that only one first-author journal article per member will be considered in a given year; for multiple-author publications, only one author needs to be an AEJMC member.
Eligible papers will be those published in the calendar year preceding the conference (e.g., published in a volume from 2011 for the 2012 conference). Papers that appear online as a pre-print are not eligible until they appear in print. Online-only journal articles are eligible in the year they first appear online. Any ComSHER focused English-language article by an AEJMC member from a peer-reviewed journal is eligible.
Nominations are due to the ComSHER Vice Head by April 15. Click on the “Officers” tab above to see the contact information for the current Vice Head.
Judging and Award
The ComSHER leadership will select up to six articles for full consideration by an Award Review Panel of 5-7 past ComSHER/SciGroup heads, peer-reviewed journal editors or associate editors, and/or full professors. Judges will consider the quality and originality of the research as well as the expected impact of the work to scholarship in the areas of science, health, environment, and/or risk communication. Winners will receive a plaque and will be able to indicate on their curriculum vitae and elsewhere that they received the “AEJMC Science, Health, Environment and Risk Communication Article of the Year Award,” and their names will be highlighted on the ComSHER website.
Article of the Year Awardees
2024 Article of the Year
Chris Skurka, Jessica Gall Myrick & Yin Yang
Skurka, C., Myrick, J. G., & Yang, Y. (2023). Fanning the flames or burning out? Testing competing hypotheses about repeated exposure to threatening climate change messages. Climatic Change, 176(5), 52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03539-8
2023 Article of the Year
Zhuling Liu, Janet Yang, and Thomas Feeley
Zhuling Liu, Janet Yang, & Thomas Feeley (2023). Reduced risk information seeking model (RISK): A meta-analysis. Science Communication, 44(6), 787-813. https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221144453
2021 Article of the Year
Emily K. Vraga, Sojung Claire Kim, John Cook, and Leticia Bode
Vraga, E. K., Kim, S. C., Cook, J., & Bode, L. (2020). Testing the effectiveness of correction placement and type on Instagram. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 25(4), 632-652. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220919082
2020 Article of the Year
Timothy K. F. Fung
Fung, T. K. (2019). The role of counterfactual thinking in narrative persuasion: Its impact on patients’ adherence to treatment regimen. Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2018.1500432
2019 Article of the Year
First Place
Christofer Skurka, Jeff Niederdeppe, Rainer Romero-Canyas, and David Acup
Skurka, C., Niederdeppe, J., Romero-Canyas, R., & Acup, D. (2018). Pathways of influence in emotional appeals: Benefits and tradeoffs of using fear or humor to promote climate change-related intentions and risk perceptions. Journal of Communication, 68(1), 169-193. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqx008
Second Place
Viorela Dan and Juliana Raupp
Dan, V., & Raupp, J. (2018). A systematic review of frames in news reporting of health risks: Characteristics, construct consistency vs. name diversity, and the relationship of frames to framing functions. Health, Risk & Society, 20(5-6), 203-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2018.1522422
Honorable Mentions
Haoran Chu and Janet Z. Yang
Chu, H., & Yang, J. Z. (2018). Taking climate change here and now–mitigating ideological polarization with psychological distance. Global Environmental Change, 53, 174-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.09.013
Shirley S. Ho, Alisius D. Leong, Jiemin Looi, and Agnes S. F. Chuah
Ho, S. S., Leong, A. D., Looi, J., & Chuah, A. S. (2019). Online, offline, or word-of-mouth? Complementary media usage patterns and credibility perceptions of nuclear energy information in Southeast Asia. Energy Research & Social Science, 48, 46-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.09.012
Chelsea L. Ratcliff, Kimberly A. Kaphingst and Jakob D. Jensen
Ratcliff, C. L., Kaphingst, K. A., & Jensen, J. D. (2018). When personal feels invasive: Foreseeing challenges in precision medicine communication. Journal of Health Communication, 23(2), 144-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2017.1417514
Matthew S. VanDyke and Andy J. King
VanDyke, M. S., & King, A. J. (2018). Using the CAUSE model to understand public communication about water risks: Perspectives from Texas groundwater district officials on drought and availability. Risk Analysis, 38(7), 1378-1389. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12950
2018 Article of the Year
First Place
Liang Chen, Shirley S. Ho, and May O Lwin
Chen, Liang, Shirley S. Ho, and May O. Lwin. (2017). A meta-analysis of factors predicting cyberbullying perpetration and victimization: From the social cognitive and media effects approach. New Media & Society, 19(8), 1194-1213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816634037
Second Place
Lauren Feldman, P. Sol Hart, Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, and Connie Roser-Renouf
Feldman, L., Hart, P. S., Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., & Roser-Renouf, C. (2017). Do hostile media perceptions lead to action? The role of hostile media perceptions, political efficacy, and ideology in predicting climate change activism. Communication Research, 44(8), 1099-1124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650214565914
Third Place (Tied)
Rachelle L. Pavelko and Jessica Gall Myrick
Myrick, J. G., & Pavelko, R. L. (2017). Examining differences in audience recall and reaction between mediated portrayals of mental illness as trivializing versus stigmatizing. Journal of Health Communication, 22(11), 876-884. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2017.1367338
Third Place (Tied)
John C. Besley, Aaron M. McCright, Nagwan R. Zahry, Kevin C. Elliott, Norbert E. Kaminski, and Joseph D. Martin
Besley, J. C., McCright, A. M., Zahry, N. R., Elliott, K. C., Kaminski, N. E., & Martin, J. D. (2017). Perceived conflict of interest in health science partnerships. PLoS One, 12(4), e0175643. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175643
2017 Article of the Year
First Place
Lee Ahern, Colleen Connolly-Ahern, and Jennifer Hoewe
Ahern, L., Connolly-Ahern, C., & Hoewe, J. (2016). Worldviews, issue knowledge, and the pollution of a local science information environment. Science Communication, 38(2), 228-250. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547016636388
Second Place
John C. Besley, Anthony D. Dudo, Shupei Yuan, and Niveen Abi Ghannam
Besley, J. C., Dudo, A. D., Yuan, S., & Abi Ghannam, N. (2016). Qualitative interviews with science communication trainers about communication objectives and goals. Science Communication, 38, 356-381. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547016645640
2016 Article of the Year
First Place
Erik C. Nisbet, Kathryn E. Cooper, and R. Kelly Garrett
Nisbet, E. C., Cooper, K. E., & Garrett, R. K. (2015). The partisan brain: How dissonant science messages lead conservatives and liberals to (dis) trust science. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 658(1), 36-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716214555474
Second Place
Jeannette Sutton, C. Ben Gibson, Nolan Edward Phillips, Emma S. Spiro, Cedar League, Britta Johnson, Sean M. Fitzhugh, and Carter T. Butts
Sutton, J., Gibson, C. B., Phillips, N. E., Spiro, E. S., League, C., Johnson, B., … & Butts, C. T. (2015). A cross-hazard analysis of terse message retransmission on Twitter. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(48), 14793-14798. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1508916112
2015 Article of the Year
First Place
Dietram A. Scheufele
Scheufele, D. A. (2014). Science communication as political communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(Supplement 4), 13585-13592. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317516111
Second Place
Z. Janet Yang, Ariel M. Aloe, and Thomas Hugh Feeley
Yang, Z. J., Aloe, A. M., & Feeley, T. H. (2014). Risk information seeking and processing model: A meta-analysis. Journal of Communication, 64(1), 20-41. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12071
2014 Article of the Year
First Place
Janice L Krieger and Melanie A. Sarge
Krieger, J. & Sarge, M. (2013). A serial mediation model of message framing on intentions to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine: Revisiting the role of threat and efficacy perceptions. Health Communication, 28(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.734914
Second Place
Amanda Hinnant, María E. Len-Ríos and Rachel Young
Hinnant, A. Len-Ríos, M., & Young, R. (2013). Journalistic Use of Exemplars to Humanize Health News. Journalism Studies, 14(4), 539-554. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2012.721633
2013 Article of the Year
First Place
P. Sol Hart and Erik C. Nisbet
Hart, P. S., & Nisbet, E. C. (2012). Boomerang effects in science communication: Political partisanship, social identity and public support for climate mitigation. Communication Research, 39, 701-723. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650211416646
Second Place
Michael F. Dahlstrom and Shirley S. Ho
Dahlstrom, M. F., & Ho, S. S. (2012). Ethical considerations of using narrative to communicate science. Science Communication, 34(5), 592-617. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547012454597