9 Research Communications
In this section:
9.1 Meet the team
9.2 Research Communications Team Service Statement?
9.3 What is the “news value” of my research?
9.4 How do I create or update my faculty profile on wlu.ca
9.5 What is the ‘Experts at Laurier’ database?
9.6 How do I work with the media?
9.7 How do I write an op-ed?
9.8 How do I plan and promote my event?
9.9 How can I get my work profiled on Laurier’s social media accounts?
9.10 Where can I find Laurier’s brand standards, official logos and brand narrative toolkit?
9.11 Crisis communications and issues management
If you are unable to find the answer you are looking for in this section, please contact us here.
9.1 Meet the Team
Nick Skinner, Senior Research Communications Strategist
The senior research communications strategist role spans the Office of Research Services and External Relations. Nick helps Laurier researchers share their results and successes with the wider community. Contact nskinner@wlu.ca to share your research updates.
9.2 Research communications team service statement
Laurier’s Senior Research Communications Strategist produces research-focused communications and marketing materials to help elevate Laurier’s reputation for academic excellence.
Based on the content and context of your research, the Senior Research Communications Strategist can help you develop an individualized communications strategy. Factors to consider include relevant audiences, funding requirements, timeliness, journalistic news value, institutional communications priorities and staff capacity.
Services include:
Promotion of research results through tactics such as:
news releases
spotlight articles on wlu.ca
feature stories in Laurier publications
social media
video content
plain-language research summaries
public events
Support and advice on:
- op-eds
- marketing Laurier-hosted events
- media outreach and training
We do our best to stay abreast of Laurier’s latest research but given the impressive output of our diverse faculty and students, please proactively reach out to the Senior Research Communications Strategist. Our communications team is committed to responding to emails with advice or next steps within 48 hours.
9.3 What is the “news value” of my research?
Your research results or general expertise may be of interest to the news media. Broadly speaking, journalists judge newsworthiness based on factors such as:
- Proximity – Events and issues that affect local audiences.
- Timeliness – New information or topics that are currently in the public discourse.
- Prominence – Involves prominent individuals or organizations.
- Significance – Has a demonstrated impact or potential consequences.
- Human interest – Light or emotional stories about everyday people.
- Conflict – Contributes to an ongoing debate or inspires disagreement.
- Loss of life/property damage – “If it bleeds, it leads.”
- Novelty – Unusual, counter-intuitive or fresh ideas and information.
If your work is characterized by some of these journalistic news values, there may be opportunities to pitch it to the media.
No matter what you are studying, there is great value in communicating your research results to non-academic audiences. Sharing your work widens its impact and can inspire constructive conversations, further academic study and even public policy change.
In order to effectively communicate your research, consider these three questions:
- Who is my audience? There may be more than one.
- What are the key points I want to communicate? Prioritize the information you want to share.
- What is the impact I want my work to have? How do you want your research results to be used?
It is important to be able to speak and write about your work in plain language for people who are not specialists in your discipline. As an exercise, describe your research in 300 words or less without using field-specific jargon.
Perhaps your research is more niche and relevant to a specialized audience. In that case, it may be best to seek out industry or discipline-specific publications and news outlets.
Laurier’s Senior Research Communications Strategist, Nick Skinner, ishere to help you strategize the best way to share your work with the Laurier community and beyond.
9.4 How do I create or update my faculty profile on wlu.ca
We strongly encourage faculty members to maintain a faculty profile on our website. Not only does this publicly establish your role at the university – it is typically the first webpage that appears when someone searches your name on Google – it is also an excellent repository to display your academic achievements and research publications.
Check out this Connect resource page to learn how to create and update your faculty profile.
9.5 What is the ‘Experts at Laurier’ Database?
As news breaks around the world, journalists are always looking for academic experts to provide commentary or insights grounded in scholarship. If you are interested in sharing your expertise with the media, make sure that you are included in Laurier’s Experts at Laurier database. This searchable database is used by journalists who are looking for an expert on a particular topic.
The Experts at Laurier database is populated manually by External Relations using information from your wlu.ca faculty profile, so please keep your profile up to date.
9.6 How do I work with the media?
Refer to the Communication and Media Relation team’s Working with the Media page for more information.
9.6.1 Examples of Laurier faculty in the news
Laurier researchers are regularly featured in the news media, either being profiled for their own research or providing expert commentary on a timely issue. Check out the latest examples of Laurier in the news.
9.7 How do I write an op-ed?
Writing an opinion piece, or op/ed, for the mainstream media can be a great way of getting your research out into public discourse. Check out our how-to article on Connect for guidance on writing and pitching your op-ed.
9.8 How do I plan and promote my event?
Check out this resource article on Connect with suggestions for promoting your event.
9.10 Where can I find Laurier’s brand standards, official logos and brand narrative toolkit?
Check out our brand guidelines toolkit for guidance on using Laurier’s visual identity.
9.11 Crisis communications and issues management
With the goal of protecting and enhancing the university’s reputation, the Issues Management unit within External Relations is tasked with anticipating potential problems and with developing plans that would lead to positive outcomes. All Laurier employees play a role in the early detection, prevention, and management of issues. It’s important that you know what an issue is, and to report potential issues to their supervisors and the Issues Management team. Refer to the External Relations Issues Management page for more information.