Showcasing original research by graduate students, The Canadian Journal of Science Communication offers a unique experience for authors

By Rebecca Dang   •   May 1, 2026

SciComm News

The inaugural issue of The Canadian Journal of Science Communication was launched in December of 2025.

The journal features written work and infographics - produced by graduate students - on a range of STEM topics, including space colonization and biologging. Driven by passion and dedication, the journal’s vision is to become more accessible and welcoming to all forms of science communication.

The editorial team is led by Alexander Hall, an assistant professor at the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences at McMaster University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal. Five graduate students from Canadian academic institutions, including the University of Manitoba, the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University, serve as Associate Editors.

The cover of the first edition of The Canadian Journal of Science Communication. This image is published with permission from the editorial team of The Canadian Journal of Science Communication.

Hall emphasized that the journal emerged because of the initiative of graduate students. “One of the great strengths of the wider network behind the Journal is that it's run by graduate students for graduate students,” he says.

Where it all started

Attendees at the 2025 ComSciCon Canada (ComSciCon-CAN), a national science communication conference for graduate students, had the opportunity to receive feedback on their work from communication professionals at a workshop called the “Create-A-Thon”. While they were provided with invaluable information, they found that they were lacking a suitable space to publish their finished pieces.

Attendees at the 2025 ComSciCon-CAN conference, which was held at McMaster University between Jun. 27–29, 2025. The 2026 ComSciCon-CAN conference will take place at the University of Waterloo.

“The Create-a-thon is a workshop that happens at our annual conference at ComSciCon-CAN, and it is open to any Canadian graduate student who's interested in improving their science communication training and skills,” says Juliet Rowe, a doctoral student at Dalhousie University and member of the organizing committee for ComSciCon-CAN.

Rowe recalls, “There are not a lot of opportunities for multimedia pieces. That sparked the idea of creating The Canadian Journal of Science Communication, as a place to publish all forms of science communication.”

Challenges leading to the launch

The logistics of setting up a new peer-reviewed open-access journal was one of the main challenges that the managing team faced. For example, setting up a digital object identifier (DOI) for each article, establishing technical workflows on the team and coordination of cost for the set-up.

Hall and Rowe expressed gratitude to McMaster Libraries for their help. The Library staff assisted the journal editorial team with open journal systems, navigating Creative Commons licenses and uploading multimedia files.

Alexander Hall and Juliet Rowe. Hall (left) serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Canadian Journal of Science Communication; Rowe (right) is a member of the organizing committee for ComSciCon-CAN, where the idea for The Canadian Journal of Science Communication originated.

“The editorial team behind it has thrown themselves into learning the interface, checking the workflows, all of those technical things,” says Hall. “I think that it seems to have gone relatively well for the first edition.”

Student author experience

Madeleine Matthews, a second-year Master’s student at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Science, worked with her colleagues to develop an infographic after receiving feedback from the Create-A-Thon reviewers. She incorporated the valuable science communication skills learned through the ComSciCon-CAN conference into her current research to create their now-published article, Staying on TRACK in Family Partnership: Guiding Challenging Conversations Between Researchers and Family Partners.

Madeleine’s piece provides guidance for scientists working with family partners on research centred on their lived experiences, specifically on sex and gender considerations for children with rare conditions. Their article illustrates how to navigate obstacles with empathy, mutual understanding and collaboration. She also includes a “Stay on TRACK” template, which researchers can use in their own work to improve communication with family partners.

Madeleine Matthews (left), one of the authors in the first issue of The Canadian Journal of Science Communication, shared the "Stay on TRACK" template (right), which she designed with co-authors, Tanya Chute-Nagy and Clara Jordan. Their full article was published in the December 2025 edition of the Journal. The "Stay on TRACK" template image is published with permission from the editorial team of The Canadian Journal of Science Communication.

“Coming into graduate school, my vision has always been that the research is absolutely pointless, if you cannot share it with the right people,” says Matthews. “I [now] view science communication as an essential series of points [throughout the research process] where one can engage with the community [and] get them involved to make sure that the research is relevant and sensitive.”

Future of the Journal

Hall and Rowe aim to broaden the journal’s scope by publishing research that highlights diverse forms of communication beyond the conference. They’ re encouraging submissions that extend beyond written transcripts or scripts, such as filmed performances.

“In the online world, we can bring in so many different formats and I think lots of traditional journals have not done that,” says Hall. He notes that the next issue promises fresh perspectives, thoughtful storytelling and engaging science content related to their research that readers do not want to miss.

Additional Information

The Canadian Journal of Science Communication is open to taking submissions from all attendees of the ComSciCon-CAN.

The next ComSciCon-CAN conference will take place at the University of Waterloo on Jun. 19-21, 2026. The conference is free to apply for all graduate students or recent graduates, with the application deadline typically due in the winter semester.

At the time of publication, applications for the 2026 conference are now closed. Any interested student should check out the website for details on the next application cycle.

About the Author

Rebecca is a research technician at McMaster University, and freelance part-time as a science writer. Rebecca graduated with an MSc in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from Western University completed a Certificate in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Her motivation as a science communicator is to share scientific knowledge with communities that traditionally did not have access research and scientific information.