COVID-19 misinformation on YouTube: An analysis of its impact and subsequent online information searches for verification.

Objectives: COVID-19 vaccination misinformation on YouTube can have negative effects on users. Some, after being exposed to such misinformation, may search online for information that either debunks or confirms it. This study's objective is to examine the impact of YouTube videos spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination and the influencing variables, as well as subsequent information seeking and its effect on attitudes toward vaccination.

Debunking health myths on the internet: the persuasive effect of (visual) online communication.

Aim: Developing evidence-based recommendations on how to debunk health-related misinformation and more specific health myths in (online) communication is important for individual health and the society. The present study investigated the effects of debunking/correction texts created according to the latest research findings with regard to four different health myths on recipients' belief, behaviour and feelings regarding the myths. Further, the study investigated the effects of different visualisations (machine-technical created image, diagram, image of an expert, message without an image) in the debunking texts.

Mapping mental models of science communication: How academics in Germany, Austria and Switzerland understand and practice science communication.

The mental models that individual scholars have of science communication - how it works, what it is supposed to achieve and so on - shape the way these academics actually communicate to the public. But these mental models, and their prevalence among scholars, have rarely been analysed. Drawing on a large-scale, representative web survey of academics at universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland ( = 15,778) from 2020, we identify three mental models that are prevalent among scholars, and that correspond to conceptual models found in science communication theory: 'Public Understanding of Science', 'Public Engagement with Science' and 'Strategic Science Communication'.

Diseases and Emotions: An Automated Content Analysis of Health Narratives in Inquiries to an Online Health Consultation Service.

The internet is increasingly used as a source of health-related information by individuals making a medical decision. Online consultation services offer a safe and anonymous time- and place-independent space in which users can ask health-related questions combined with related individual health narratives, including associated emotions. Research on emotions in health narratives and medical communication is still at an early stage.

Searching Online for Information About Vaccination: Assessing the Influence of User-Specific Cognitive Factors Using Eye-Tracking.

In Germany, the Internet is gaining increasing importance for laypeople as a source of health information, including information about vaccination. While previous research has focused on the characteristics of online information about vaccination, this study investigated the influence of relevant user-specific cognitive factors on users' search behavior for online information about vaccination. Additionally, it examined how searching online for information about vaccination influences users' attitudes toward vaccination.

Frames of scientific evidence: How journalists represent the (un)certainty of molecular medicine in science television programs.

For laypeople, media coverage of science on television is a gateway to scientific issues. Defining scientific evidence is central to the field of science, but there are still questions if news coverage of science represents scientific research findings as certain or uncertain. The framing approach is a suitable framework to classify different media representations; it is applied here to investigate the frames of scientific evidence in film clips (n=207) taken from science television programs.