A first snapshot of academics’ media mentions and policy citations in Flanders Belgium

Abstract

Data that show academics’ interactions with media and policy is scarce. Based on open-source database FRIS, we queried the names of all active academics from Dutch-speaking universities in Belgium in BelgaPress and Overton. Explorative analyses reveal distinct sector differences in media mentions and policy citations, with academics from Medical – and Social sciences being the most visible. A small minority of mostly male academics featured very frequently in media and policy, but not in both domains simultaneously. Moreover, academics featured in the media seem are not necessarily quoted more in policy and vice versa.