THE CONVERSATION - A global network for knowledge mobilization

SFU is one of the founding partners of The Conversation Canada, one of the world’s most trusted independent sources of news and views from the academic and research community, delivered directly to the public. Its global reach is 42 million readers a month and growing exponentially.

How much does it cost?

The Conversation is a completely free resource: free to read and committed to staying free, and free to share or republish under Creative Commons. Articles published on its Canadian network can get exposure on a growing list of editions: US, UK, Australia, Africa, Indonesia, France, Spain and Global Perspectives, giving experts direct access to those media markets. Along with becoming a trusted international news source in itself, The Conversation content is regularly republished by the world’s leading media outlets: PBS, Salon, The Smithsonian Magazine, Newsweek, Huffington Post and others, including Canada’s leading news organizations like the National Post and Maclean’s. The Canadian Press regularly picks up the articles from The Conversation to pitch to Canadian media.

Why join?

SFU Knowledge Mobilization: SFU is committed to providing sustained resources to support researchers in sharing their findings with wider communities in meaningful ways. This commitment to knowledge mobilization is intended to facilitate wider public engagement with research and deepen connections between researchers and knowledge users.

Academics and researchers who publish articles through The Conversation Canada get access to a robust analytics dashboard which provides data they can’t get from traditional academic publications. The researchers can in turn use this data to demonstrate knowledge mobilization, an increasingly important element in grant applications. Researchers who publish in The Conversation get quoted or called to comment by the leading world media outlets. 2019 SFU Newsmaker Award winner from the Emerging Thought Leaders program, a postdoctoral researcher Fatemeh Torabi Asr, appeared in The Guardian, Salon, Daily Cos, National Post, PBS and other media, after publishing articles in The Conversation. Estimated reach of her media mentions in 2019 was 178M.

Who should join?

The Conversation model is based on authors who have an expertise in the subject they are writing about. To submit an article, you must be:

A current researcher or academic with a Canadian university. This includes professors, associate, adjunct, post doctoral and honourary roles (emeritus positions).
PhD and master's students can also submit, but MA students must have a professor as a coauthor.

How to join?

To register as a potential author, create an account. You will need to verify your institution, as well as your education history.

Once registered, you will be able to:

Pitch stories and publish articles related to your field of expertise, with the help of an experienced editorial team at The Conversation.
Join their database of experts numbering over 50,000+ academics around the world, an important resource of experts for the global media.

Process for story pitching

Ask yourself these questions before pitching an idea to The Conversation Canada:

Do you think your story idea would work for a broad Canadian and international audience, written and edited in plain language?
Is this your area of expertise?
Can you translate tricky issues for the general public?
Do you have a “news hook” that makes the article timely or relevant?
For more information: https://theconversation.com/ca/pitches

Other ways to promote your work

Our team of media experts at SFU Communications & Marketing can help you demonstrate how your work at SFU is making an important contribution to the world and your community. Contact us at MediaRelations@sfu.ca to discuss the possibilities listed below, and we will connect you with one of our team members.

Discuss your story idea with your faculty/department communicator or directly with SFU Communications & Marketing. Stories we pitch to the media are regularly picked up by the CBC, Global News, CTV, Vancouver Sun and other Canadian and international news outlets. If your new research has international significance, it will also be posted by our office to EurekAlert!, a leading science news release platform, operated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Book Media 101 training for yourself or your faculty/department. The session covers tactics and tricks you can use to ensure you give the best interview possible. Book a session for your faculty by contacting MediaRelations@sfu.ca.
Does your story have visual potential? We would love to connect you with our video-journalist to create an SFU News video. SFU News videos get thousands of views online and are sometimes shared by traditional media outlets such as the Vancouver Sun or CBC News.
Participate in The Conversation workshop for researchers, when available.

Get listed on our Experts Directory

Connect with SFU Communications & Marketing to be added to the SFU’s Media Experts Directory by emailing MediaRelations@sfu.ca. Our staff will connect you with reporters who need experts available to comment on current issues. Experts who gain media coverage will be provided with a media report upon request.

SFU Communicators Toolkit