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The 2020--2022 pandemic highlighted concerns about "information disorders", pressing for approaches capable of guiding the science-society alliance toward a mutually beneficial direction. This essay advocates for and presents a framework proposing the combination of Open Science (OS) and Science Communication (SciComm) practices. OS encourages public access to scientific material, while SciComm has historically enabled public understanding of scientific knowledge. Despite their similar goals, these two communities are disconnected. We draw on the concepts of "boundary object" and "epistemic trust" to demonstrate how this framework could foster a bond between scientific expertise and public reason toward an informed and inclusive common good. The OS-SciComm framework is based on the notion that ensuring transparency in science also requires "bridging tools" that deal with the complexity of scientific lexicon and processes. It values scientific expertise, but does not undermine citizens' capabilities in information processing and their interest in accessing scientific outputs. Our proposal also acknowledges controversies involving open scientific materials during the COVID-19 pandemic and advises caution when drawing conclusions from cases that are often context-specific. The OS-SciComm framework requires innovative ideas, platforms and actions. We invite both communities to join us in this endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Online discourse related to vaccinations is often charged with emotions and include misinformation. Aim: The main objective of the study is assesment of trends the dynamics of the online vaccination-related discourse published publicly in Polish, using social media monitoring tool and Google Trends. Material and methods: The study collected the number of mentions with a social media listening tool and the number of queries with Google Trends from July 1, 2018 to October 23, 2022. The analysis included the following sources of the mentions and queries: Twitter, Facebook, online portals, and forums. Data on the COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Poland was also considered. Results and discussion: A total of 34,596,976 vaccination-related mentions were included in the analysis. Kendall's tau correlation showed a positive statistical association between the daily number of mentions and the number of queries related to vaccination throughout the studied period (t = 0.66). There was a moderate positive linear association between the number of queries and the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Poland (R² = 0.59). There was a weak positive linear association between the number of mentions and the number of COVID-19 vaccinations in Poland (R² = 0.23). Conclusions: With the increase in the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Poland, corresponding increase in online vaccination-related searches (queries) occurred. Routine analysis of Google Trends combined with Internet and social media monitoring can provide reliable insight regarding public sentiment towards vaccination. Such analysis play a crucial role in formulating health policies and developing educational and promotional initiatives related to vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the growth of a global infodemic. In order to combat the COVID-19 infodemic, it is necessary to understand what kinds of misinformation are spreading. Furthermore, various local factors influence how the infodemic manifests in different countries. Therefore, understanding how and why infodemics differ between countries is a matter of interest for public health. This study aims to elucidate and compare the types of COVID-19 misinformation produced from the infodemic in the US and Japan. Methods: COVID-19 fact-checking articles were obtained from the two largest publishers of fact-checking articles in each language. 1,743 US articles and 148 Japanese articles in their respective languages were gathered, with articles published between 23 January 2020 and 4 November 2022. Articles were analyzed using the free text mining software KH Coder. Exploration of frequently-occurring words and groups of related words was carried out. Based on agglomeration plots and prior research, eight categories of misinformation were created. Lastly, coding rules were created for these eight categories, and a chi-squared test was performed to compare the two datasets. Results: Overall, the most frequent words in both languages were related to health-related terms, but the Japan dataset had more words referring to foreign countries. Among the eight categories, differences with chi-squared p ≤ 0.01 were found after Holm-Bonferroni p value adjustment for the proportions of misinformation regarding statistics (US 40.0% vs. JP 25.7%, ϕ 0.0792); origin of the virus and resultant discrimination (US 7.0% vs. JP 20.3%, ϕ 0.1311); and COVID-19 disease severity, treatment, or testing (US 32.6% vs. JP 45.9%, ϕ 0.0756). Conclusions: Local contextual factors were found that likely influenced the infodemic in both countries; representations of these factors include societal polarization in the US and the HPV vaccine scare in Japan. It is possible that Japan's relative resistance to misinformation affects the kinds of misinformation consumed, directing attention away from conspiracy theories and towards health-related issues. However, more studies need to be done to verify whether misinformation resistance affects misinformation consumption patterns this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, prominent social actors and institutions have warned about the threat of misinformation, calling for policy action to address it. However, neither the premises underlying expert claims nor the standards to separate truth from falsehood have been appraised. We conducted a scoping review of the medical and social scientific literature, informed by a critical policy analysis approach, examining what this literature means by misinformation. We searched academic databases and refereed publications, selecting a total of 68 articles for review. Two researchers independently charted the data. Our most salient finding was that verifiability relied largely on the claims of epistemic authorities, albeit only those vetted by the establishment, to the exclusion of independent evidentiary standards or heterodox perspectives. Further, "epistemic authority" did not depend necessarily on subject matter expertise, but largely on a new type of "expertise": in misinformation itself. Finally, policy solutions to the alleged threat that misinformation poses to democracy and human rights called for suppressing unverified information and debate unmanaged by establishment approved experts, in the name of protecting democracy and rights, contrary to democratic practice and respect for human rights. Notably, we identified no pockets of resistance to these dominant meanings and uses. We assessed the implications of our findings for democratic public policy, and for fundamental rights and freedoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, prominent social actors and institutions have warned about the threat of misinformation, calling for policy action to address it. However, neither the premises underlying expert claims nor the standards to separate truth from falsehood have been appraised. We conducted a scoping review of the medical and social scientific literature, informed by a critical policy analysis approach, examining what this literature means by misinformation. We searched academic databases and refereed publications, selecting a total of 68 articles for review. Two researchers independently charted the data. Our most salient finding was that verifiability relied largely on the claims of epistemic authorities, albeit only those vetted by the establishment, to the exclusion of independent evidentiary standards or heterodox perspectives. Further, “epistemic authority” did not depend necessarily on subject matter expertise, but largely on a new type of “expertise”: in misinformation itself. Finally, policy solutions to the alleged threat that misinformation poses to democracy and human rights called for suppressing unverified information and debate unmanaged by establishment approved experts, in the name of protecting democracy and rights, contrary to democratic practice and respect for human rights. Notably, we identified no pockets of resistance to these dominant meanings and uses. We assessed the implications of our findings for democratic public policy, and for fundamental rights and freedoms.

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the growth of a global infodemic. In order to combat the COVID-19 infodemic, it is necessary to understand what kinds of misinformation are spreading. Furthermore, various local factors influence how the infodemic manifests in different countries. Therefore, understanding how and why infodemics differ between countries is a matter of interest for public health. This study aims to elucidate and compare the types of COVID-19 misinformation produced from the infodemic in the US and Japan. Methods COVID-19 fact-checking articles were obtained from the two largest publishers of fact-checking articles in each language. 1,743 US articles and 148 Japanese articles in their respective languages were gathered, with articles published between 23 January 2020 and 4 November 2022. Articles were analyzed using the free text mining software KH Coder. Exploration of frequently-occurring words and groups of related words was carried out. Based on agglomeration plots and prior research, eight categories of misinformation were created. Lastly, coding rules were created for these eight categories, and a chi-squared test was performed to compare the two datasets. Results Overall, the most frequent words in both languages were related to health-related terms, but the Japan dataset had more words referring to foreign countries. Among the eight categories, differences with chi-squared p ≤ 0.01 were found after Holm-Bonferroni p value adjustment for the proportions of misinformation regarding statistics (US 40.0% vs. JP 25.7%, ϕ 0.0792); origin of the virus and resultant discrimination (US 7.0% vs. JP 20.3%, ϕ 0.1311); and COVID-19 disease severity, treatment, or testing (US 32.6% vs. JP 45.9%, ϕ 0.0756). Conclusions Local contextual factors were found that likely influenced the infodemic in both countries; representations of these factors include societal polarization in the US and the HPV vaccine scare in Japan. It is possible that Japan’s relative resistance to misinformation affects the kinds of misinformation consumed, directing attention away from conspiracy theories and towards health-related issues. However, more studies need to be done to verify whether misinformation resistance affects misinformation consumption patterns this way.

This article deals with the study and analysis of the role of media as a tool for influencing mass consciousness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Media researchers attempted to analyze the extent of media’s impact on recipients’ decisions, such as vaccine refusal, non-compliance with quarantine measures, and violation of other restrictions imposed during the global health crisis. One of the reasons for the destructive behavior of citizens in different countries was the infodemic – the oversaturation of the global media landscape with unreliable and unverified information. In these circumstances, the media had various tasks, from informing the audience about processes related to the new disease to promoting vaccination. This led to the media resorting to various models of influencing the audience, described in both classical theories of media influence and modern ones. The author of the article analyzed publications from the perspective of media influence, as well as research aimed at identifying the mechanisms of media influence on society during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the study, the author concludes that the influence of media on society is a structurally and functionally complex process influenced by numerous factors such as the information policies of specifi c media outlets, individual characteristics of journalists and information recipients, the political environment, etc. It was also established that during the pandemic, distortions in the communication process occur not randomly but according to specific models described in various theories of strong media influence, including the magic bullet theory, framing, agenda-setting, and others

Health literacy, the ability to obtain and comprehend health knowledge, is essential to promote health and reduce disparities. Health communication aims to improve health by ensuring an effective understanding and application of health information. Despite current challenges, there are many opportunities for improving communication in the health literacy practice. Promoting communication in health literacy is essential in empowering individuals, improving outcomes, and reducing healthcare disparities. Effective communication enables access, comprehension, and informed decision-making of individuals and communities regarding their health, strengthening their central role in promoting health literacy. This paper highlights the challenges and opportunities in today’s world, especially in a post-pandemic era, dominated by infodemic and social media influencers, while providing solutions, encompassing professional training of health professionals on communication, digital skills, and an overarching strategy across health institutions. Translating knowledge into health-promoting behaviors and well-being can only be effective by accounting for communication in health literacy.

Background Learning to thinking critically about health information and choices can protect people from unnecessary suffering, harm, and resource waste. Earlier work revealed that children can learn these skills, but printing costs and curricula compatibility remain important barriers to school implementation. We aimed to develop a set of digital learning resources for students to think critically about health that were suitable for use in Kenyan, Rwandan, and Ugandan secondary schools. Methods We conducted work in two phases collaborating with teachers, students, schools, and national curriculum development offices using a human-centred design approach. First, we conducted context analyses and an overview of teaching strategies, prioritised content and collected examples. Next, we developed lessons and guidance iteratively, informed by data from user-testing, individual and group interviews, and school pilots. Results Final resources include online lesson plans, teachers’ guide, and extra resources, with lesson plans in two modes, for use in a classroom equipped with a blackboard/flip-chart and a projector. The resources are accessible offline for use when electricity or Internet is lacking. Teachers preferred the projector mode, as it provided structure and a focal point for class attention. Feedback was largely positive, with teachers and students appreciating the learning and experiencing it as relevant. Four main challenges included time to teach lessons; incorrect comprehension; identifying suitable examples; and technical, logistical, and behavioural challenges with a student-computer mode that we piloted. We resolved challenges by simplifying and combining lessons; increasing opportunities for review and assessment; developing teacher training materials, creating a searchable set of examples; and deactivating the student-computer mode. Conclusion Using a human-centred design approach, we created digital resources for teaching secondary school students to think critically about health actions and for training teachers. Be smart about your health resources are open access and can be translated or adapted to other settings.

The global pandemic has disrupted virtually all countries on health, psychological functioning, and economies, to name a few. Accurate information has also fallen victim to the pandemic, which has been rife with misinformation and conspiracy theories. The current study investigated Covid-19 deceptions related to employment. With complete anonymity via MTurk, 389 participants from the United States rated their likelihood of deception regarding hypothetical four workplace scenarios. The first set of analyses examined differences between high and low risk of deceptions for each scenario based on participants' self-appraisals. The largest differences were found for general conspiracy beliefs and affective disorders, specifically major depression and generalized anxiety. The second set of analyses focused across the workplace scenarios on two operationalized groups with Likely-Deceptive (n = 189) vastly outnumbering Likely-Genuine (n = 55). Personal experiences with Covid-19 dramatically increased deceptions. Testing positive for Covid-19 increased the odds of being in the Likely-Deceptive by twelve-fold. Two discriminant models examined cognitive misbeliefs and psychological functioning. When both were combined, depression and Covid-19 misinformation produced the strongest structure coefficients followed closely by general conspiracy beliefs and generalized anxiety. The far-ranging implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how domestic alternative media reported the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. It pays special attention to whether the Conversation Canada, as an emerging not-for-profit journalism organization founded on the premise of "explanatory journalism", has taken a different approach to COVID-19 reporting than three long-standing Canadian alternative media: Canada's National Observer, Rabble, and Tyee. A combination of quantitative content analysis and qualitative discourse analysis found that the pandemic's far-reaching impacts gained the main emphasis in the surveyed media. These media also provided slightly divergent accounts of what precipitated the pandemic's disastrous results. Additionally, the way the Conversation Canada framed COVID-19 expressed a close resemblance to academic writing, especially in terms of the strategic use of in-text citations for making compelling arguments. These findings highlight the indispensable role that progressive alternative media play in the effective public communication of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Akademik Hassasiyetler is the property of Huzeyfe Suleyman Arslan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, China's "Zero-COVID" policy and strong government actions led to significant disruptions in daily life. Using Shanghai's 2022 lockdown as an example, this study investigated how the government's actions influenced people's intentions to share information about risks and content with positive emotions. By employing the Third-Person Effect theory, this study further explores the underlying socio-psychological mechanism. A survey was conducted with 7,962 participants, and multiple linear regressions and structural equation models were applied to analyze the data. We found that (1) the policies that led to inconvenience whetted the dissemination of risk information and restricted the sharing of positive-emotion content; (2) "status-led" motivation was the critical reason why people shared both types of messages; and (3) Third-Person Perception mediated both of these influences. These findings expand our understanding of social communication during public health crises, particularly how the Third-Person Effect works. Plain language summary: During Shanghai's lockdown for COVID-19, did government actions like restriction of going out and delivery of relief packages influence people's intentions to share information on social media? The answer might be "Yes," and people tended to compare themselves with others when considering such issues During public crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, information about the risk is usually the primary type of messages disseminated on social media. People also tend to share content with positive emotions to encourage each other. In China, the "Zero-COVID" policy during 2020 to 2022 led to significant disruptions in daily life, and consequently influenced people's behaviors on social media. Such potent governmental behaviors offered a typical social circumstance which allowed scholars to examine the influence of the influence of government's actions on people's behaviors on social media. We conducted a large-scale online survey and collected 7,962 valid replies during Shanghai's lockdown in 2022, which was regarded as the hardest time of the 3-year pandemic in China. It was found that, the policies that led to inconvenience substantially whetted the dissemination of information about the risk, and hindered the sharing of content with positive emotions. Confronting different government's actions, people perceived different potential effects of the information. Those who suffered relatively less inconvenience from the lockdown tended to consider others were more vulnerable, and hence reduced the behaviors of sharing so as to protect the surrounding people. Such sociopsychological mechanism partially explained why the government's actions played their roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis is the property of Amsterdam University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The proliferation of COVID-19 fake news on social media poses a severe threat to the health information ecosystem. We show that affective computing can make significant contributions to combat this infodemic. Given that fake news is often presented with emotional appeals, we propose a new perspective on the role of emotion in the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of the dissemination of information. We study emotions in conjunction with fake news, and explore different aspects of their interaction. To process both emotion and ‘falsehood’ based on the same set of data, we auto-tag emotions on existing COVID-19 fake news datasets following an established emotion taxonomy. More specifically, based on the distribution of seven basic emotions (e.g., Happiness, Like, Fear, Sadness, Surprise, Disgust, Anger), we find across domains and styles that COVID-19 fake news is dominated by emotions of Fear (e.g., of coronavirus), and Disgust (e.g., of social conflicts). In addition, the framing of fake news in terms of gain-versus-loss reveals a close correlation between emotions, perceptions, and collective human reactions. Our analysis confirms the significant role of emotion Fear in the spreading of the fake news, especially when contextualized in the loss frame. Our study points to a future direction of incorporating emotion footprints in models of automatic fake news detection, and establishes an affective computing approach to information quality in general and fake news detection in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, it has been shown that transmissible and harmful misinformation can be viewed as pathogenic, potentially contributing to collective social epidemics. In this study, a biological analogy is developed to allow investigative methods that are applied to biological epidemics to be considered for adaptation to digital and social ones including those associated with misinformation. The model's components include infopathogens, tropes, cognition, memes, and phenotypes. The model can be used for diagnostic, pathologic, and synoptic/taxonomic study of the spread of misinformation. A thought experiment based on a hypothetical riot is used to understand how disinformation spreads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adequate level of health literacy enables people to adopt protective behaviors to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Validated instruments are desired to assess such reactions. This study aims to determine the level of health literacy and validity and reliability of the Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-COVID-Q22) adapted to Turkish. The present study was carried out with 452 participants in Turkey using an online survey. The scale was translated from English to Turkish using the back-translation technique. The cultural adaptation was outlined in the context of establishing the validity and reliability of the instruments. A coronavirus-related health literacy measure was validated (HLS-COVID-Q22) for the Turkish population through exploratory factorial analysis, followed by a confirmatory factorial analysis. The coronavirus-related health literacy level of the participants was found to be 2.92 (± 0.51). Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.95. A four-factor solution was confirmed with eigenvalues > 1.0, suggesting a four-factor solution and explaining 68.84% of the total variance. It was determined that the χ2/ df and root mean square residual, root mean square error of approximation and comparative fit index values in the last model had a good fit and that the normed fit index, goodness-of-fit index and adjusted goodness-of-fit index values were acceptable. The coronavirus-related health literacy level of Turkish adults was moderate. HLS-COVID-Q22 was a reliable and valid instrument for measuring coronavirus-related health literacy in the Turkish population. Promoting population-based health literacy and making decisions on accurate and reliable information are important in coping with the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020–2022 pandemic highlighted concerns about “information disorders”, pressing for approaches capable of guiding the science-society alliance toward a mutually beneficial direction. This essay advocates for and presents a framework proposing the combination of Open Science (OS) and Science Communication (SciComm) practices. OS encourages public access to scientific material, while SciComm has historically enabled public understanding of scientific knowledge. Despite their similar goals, these two communities are disconnected. We draw on the concepts of “boundary object” and “epistemic trust” to demonstrate how this framework could foster a bond between scientific expertise and public reason toward an informed and inclusive common good. The OS-SciComm framework is based on the notion that ensuring transparency in science also requires “bridging tools” that deal with the complexity of scientific lexicon and processes. It values scientific expertise, but does not undermine citizens' capabilities in information processing and their interest in accessing scientific outputs. Our proposal also acknowledges controversies involving open scientific materials during the COVID-19 pandemic and advises caution when drawing conclusions from cases that are often context-specific. The OS-SciComm framework requires innovative ideas, platforms and actions. We invite both communities to join us in this endeavor.

BackgroundThe 21st century has brought about a damaging information crisis, significantly challenging and undermining efforts to increase the uptake of scientific research evidence in both policy and practice. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes misinformation and disinformation as major drivers of pandemic spread and impact, dedicating a policy brief to pandemic preparedness on this issue. In this study, we examine the impact of mis/disinformation on the use of research evidence in public policy decision-making in West and Central Africa and reflect on how this can inform future pandemic preparedness.ObjectivesWhat factors affect the uptake of scientific evidence during disease outbreaks in Africa?MethodsWe used the JBI Scoping Review and Prevalence/Incidence Review methodologies to synthesize the best available evidence. A DELPHI survey was conducted in two stages: the first gathered experiences from policymakers, practitioners, and citizens in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Senegal regarding mis/disinformation and its impact. The second stage explored potential situations related to the issues identified in the first stage. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA.ResultsThe research identified the origins (n = 5), transmission platforms (n = 15), cases (n = 4), mitigation strategies (n = 6), and impacts (n = 4) of infodemic on policy design, implementation, and uptake. Online platforms were identified as the main source of infodemic in 53.3% of cases, compared to 46.7% attributed to offline platforms. We conclude that the severity of COVID-19 as a global pandemic has highlighted the dangers of mis/disinformation, with a considerable number of studies from Middle Africa demonstrating a significant negative impact on the uptake of health policies and to an extend evidence informed policy making. It is also imperative to consider addressing evidence hesitancy in citizens through innovative and indigenous approaches like storytelling.DiscussionsDigital technologies, especially social media, play a key role in the propagation of infodemics. For future pandemic preparedness, stakeholders must consider using digital tools and platforms to prevent and mitigate pandemics. This study adds new evidence to the existing body of evidence, emphasizing the need to address infodemics within the context of future pandemic preparedness in Middle Africa.

Background Learning to thinking critically about health information and choices can protect people from unnecessary suffering, harm, and resource waste. Earlier work revealed that children can learn these skills, but printing costs and curricula compatibility remain important barriers to school implementation. We aimed to develop a set of digital learning resources for students to think critically about health that were suitable for use in Kenyan, Rwandan, and Ugandan secondary schools. Methods We conducted work in two phases collaborating with teachers, students, schools, and national curriculum development offices using a human-centred design approach. First, we conducted context analyses and an overview of teaching strategies, prioritised content and collected examples. Next, we developed lessons and guidance iteratively, informed by data from user-testing, individual and group interviews, and school pilots. Results Final resources include online lesson plans, teachers’ guide, and extra resources, with lesson plans in two modes, for use in a classroom equipped with a blackboard/flip-chart and a projector. The resources are accessible offline for use when electricity or Internet is lacking. Teachers preferred the projector mode, as it provided structure and a focal point for class attention. Feedback was largely positive, with teachers and students appreciating the learning and experiencing it as relevant. Four main challenges included time to teach lessons; incorrect comprehension; identifying suitable examples; and technical, logistical, and behavioural challenges with a student-computer mode that we piloted. We resolved challenges by simplifying and combining lessons; increasing opportunities for review and assessment; developing teacher training materials, creating a searchable set of examples; and deactivating the student-computer mode. Conclusion Using a human-centred design approach, we created digital resources for teaching secondary school students to think critically about health actions and for training teachers. Be smart about your health resources are open access and can be translated or adapted to other settings.

Si Chen, Cecilia Cheng Social and Health Psychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cecilia Cheng, Social and Health Psychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China, Email ceci-cheng@hku.hkAbstract: The COVID-19 pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge to public well-being, necessitating an examination of its health impact. This review discusses the relationship between pandemic-induced stressors and individual sleep patterns and quality. The pandemic stressors include lockdown or physical distancing measures, direct virus exposure, and the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation. The pandemic led to delayed sleep-wake cycles, except for healthcare professionals, and worsened sleep quality. The prevalence of insomnia was higher for women due to pre-existing conditions and susceptibility stressors such as lockdown stress and family responsibilities. Healthcare professionals, who experienced worsened work conditions during the pandemic, reported higher rates of insomnia and sleep difficulties due to infection anxiety and post-traumatic stress from direct virus exposure. For the general population, stress stemmed from social isolation under lockdown and overwhelming false information available online, resulting in sleep problems. Taken together, the findings highlight the importance of promoting social interactions, providing psychological support services, and caution in navigating health information. In summary, this review underscores the need for individual- and group-centered approaches in ongoing research and interventions to address pandemic-related stress and sleep issues during COVID-19.Keywords: sleep health, sleep disturbance, insomnia, infodemic

Abstract Background The infodemic accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an overwhelming amount of information, including questions, concerns and misinformation. Pandemic fatigue has been identified as a concern from early in the pandemic. With new and ongoing health emergencies in 2022, it is important to understand how pandemic fatigue is being discussed and expressed by users on digital channels. This study aims to explore and report on key narrative themes associated with expressions of pandemic fatigue by users on digital platforms. Methods This paper describes the collection of publicly available data over a 3-month period from multiple online sources using the Meltwater and CrowdTangle platforms to source data from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Product Reviews, Twitch, blogs & forums. A comprehensive search strategy was developed and tested. A total of 1,484,042 social media posts were identified during the time-period that included the defined search terms for pandemic fatigue. These data were initially sorted by highest levels of engagement and from this dataset, analysts reviewed the identified posts to isolate and remove irrelevant content and identify dominant narratives. A thematic analysis was carried out on these narratives to identify themes related to expression of pandemic fatigue. Two researchers reviewed the data and themes. Results The thematic analysis of narratives identified six main themes relating to expression of pandemic fatigue, and one theme of counter narratives against pandemic fatigue. Data volume increased concurrent with the time of the mpox emergency announcement. Emergent themes showed the different ways users expressed pandemic fatigue and how it was interlaced with issues of trust, preventative measure acceptance and uptake, misinformation, and being overwhelmed with multiple or sustained emergencies. Conclusions This paper has identified the different ways users express pandemic fatigue on digital channels over a 3-month period. Better understanding the implications of the information environment on user’s perceptions, questions, and concerns regarding pandemic and more broadly emergency fatigue is vital in identifying relevant interventions and, in the longer term, strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, prevention, readiness and resilience, as evidenced in this paper. There are clear pathways for further research, including incorporating additional languages and reviewing these themes over longer time periods.

AbstractThe study uses a relevant theoretical lens and an exploratory qualitative research approach to examine the dynamics of how an overabundance of information in the digital public sphere combined with fake news during the Covid-19 pandemic led to an infodemic. The study explores the viewpoints of 30 trained fact-checkers through in-depth interviews to learn more about their perspectives on the causes of the infodemic, tools for validating and spotting fake news, the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in managing the infodemic, and the benefits and drawbacks of employing artificial intelligence (AI) for fact-checking. Additionally, the paper critically examines how the spread of false information contributed to the infodemic that worsened the Covid-19 outbreak. The study uses theories for understanding the core causes and motivating factors behind people’s excessive involvement in spreading false information online. The findings show how the WHO works with the national government and social media platforms to combat false information and provide accurate information. The research contributes to a deeper understanding of how AI, false information, and the global health issues interact by using theoretical perspectives. The work lays the way for efficient methods of controlling the flow of information during a crisis.

While the world is battling COVID-19 pandemic and its variants; netizens are combating Infodemic – "Proliferation of fake news online". Spread of fake news during this global pandemic COVID-19 has dangerous consequences. Precise automated fake news detection is the need of the hour. This is the driving force behind this study. Intrinsic quality of news data: precision and objectivity can be studied to detect the credibility. However, to gain the knowledge or inference from it further it is a challenge. To address this challenge, this work proposes derivation of features into two categories: intrinsic word level features (Fine-grained) and sentence level features (Coarse- grained).For experimentation, fine-grained features are learned from word vector representation of the news articles. Psycho-linguistic and sentiment level word level features are derived using Empath library. Coarse-grained features (sentence-level) comprise of vectors generated by Text summarization and DOC2Vec. Taking the advantages of existing approaches, this paper proposes a new framework Granularity based Fake news Detection (GRAFED) that explores fusion of fine and coarse-grained features. The fusion of feature set is more powerful than individual fine or coarse-grained feature sets as they can capture complex interdependence of words in the sentence along with the semantics. Exhaustive experimentation using traditional classifiers with hybrid granular feature vector of GRAFED outperformed the existing approaches for publicly available state-of-art LIAR dataset. Experimental results show that the hybrid feature set is superior to individual feature set and the results are promising when compared to the existing state-of-art approaches as analyzed in the comparative analysis section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Methods:Results:Conclusions:With the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation, and information search have increased dramatically. This increased search for information about the Coronavirus, called infodemic, was greatly affected by fake news and information without scientific evidence. This article aimed to assess the infodemic amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with sociodemographic and pandemic-related variables, as well as describe the main sources from which people obtained information about COVID-19.A cross-sectional population-based study was performed in Criciúma, Brazil. All individuals aged 18 years or older, residing in the 607 households systematically selected, were invited to answer the questionnaire. Infodemic and sources to seek information about COVID-19 were evaluated, as well as sociodemographic and pandemic-related variables. Adjusted Poisson regression with robust variance was used to evaluate associations.A total of 863 individuals participated in the study. The prevalence of infodemic was 22.1%, and television was the main source of information (58.9%). Three groups presented a higher prevalence of infodemic: older adults (PR: 1.65), individuals with low income (PR: 2.97), and those who had had contact with someone infected (PR: 2.20).The findings reflect how some groups are more exposed to infodemic, and underline the responsibility and importance of intersectoral actions for dissemination of information about COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health literacy, the ability to obtain and comprehend health knowledge, is essential to promote health and reduce disparities. Health communication aims to improve health by ensuring an effective understanding and application of health information. Despite current challenges, there are many opportunities for improving communication in the health literacy practice. Promoting communication in health literacy is essential in empowering individuals, improving outcomes, and reducing healthcare disparities. Effective communication enables access, comprehension, and informed decision-making of individuals and communities regarding their health, strengthening their central role in promoting health literacy. This paper highlights the challenges and opportunities in today's world, especially in a post-pandemic era, dominated by infodemic and social media influencers, while providing solutions, encompassing professional training of health professionals on communication, digital skills, and an overarching strategy across health institutions. Translating knowledge into health-promoting behaviors and well-being can only be effective by accounting for communication in health literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine online search behaviour related to vaccine adverse effects, side effects, harms, and safety that can be the main basis of vaccine hesitancy and common objections to vaccines in Türkiye during the COVID-19 vaccine development and vaccination efforts. Methods: It was aimed to determine the relative search volumes (RSV) on Google Trends data from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022, in order to identify internet searches related to the origins of hesitations and prevalent concerns about COVID-19 vaccines. Within this scope, search query logs were scrutinized, and four primary search categories were established: (1) queries containing general or specific terms related to the adverse effects and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, (2) queries containing the name or commercial identity of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and its safety, (3) queries containing the name or commercial identity of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and its side effects, (4) queries containing the name or commercial identity of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer and its harm. Finally, these different search categories were evaluated in terms of RSV by country and region. Results: Throughout the entire pandemic, a consistent and significant increase in search interest regarding a coronavirus vaccine was observed in Türkiye, persisting at a consistently high level. The occurrence of peaks in search queries coincided with significant events including official declarations, prominent increases in the incidence of COVID-19 cases, and the announcement of noteworthy advancements in vaccine development. RSV curves pertaining to adverse events, side effects, and safety of COVID-19 vaccines exhibited distinct fluctuations during study time periods, while the RSV curve reflecting concerns about potential harm associated with COVID-19 vaccines demonstrated an overall upward. The form of RSV curves exhibited a remarkable resemblance to all provinces, excluding Bayburt. Moreover, the search interest in vaccines developed by various countries and pharmaceutical companies demonstrated a similar pattern. Interest in vaccine adverse effects was consistently the highest level (60%), followed by side effects (39%) and safety concerns (20%). Furthermore, in the course of the study period, the interval characterized by the highest magnitude of search queries and the occurrence of peak values was observed in June 2021, coinciding with the lifting of curfews. Conclusion: When considering the peak recorded in search queries in June 2021, it is thought that the dominant factor influencing search behavior could be the societal risk perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The infodemic accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an overwhelming amount of information, including questions, concerns and misinformation. Pandemic fatigue has been identified as a concern from early in the pandemic. With new and ongoing health emergencies in 2022, it is important to understand how pandemic fatigue is being discussed and expressed by users on digital channels. This study aims to explore and report on key narrative themes associated with expressions of pandemic fatigue by users on digital platforms. Methods: This paper describes the collection of publicly available data over a 3-month period from multiple online sources using the Meltwater and CrowdTangle platforms to source data from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Product Reviews, Twitch, blogs & forums. A comprehensive search strategy was developed and tested. A total of 1,484,042 social media posts were identified during the time-period that included the defined search terms for pandemic fatigue. These data were initially sorted by highest levels of engagement and from this dataset, analysts reviewed the identified posts to isolate and remove irrelevant content and identify dominant narratives. A thematic analysis was carried out on these narratives to identify themes related to expression of pandemic fatigue. Two researchers reviewed the data and themes. Results: The thematic analysis of narratives identified six main themes relating to expression of pandemic fatigue, and one theme of counter narratives against pandemic fatigue. Data volume increased concurrent with the time of the mpox emergency announcement. Emergent themes showed the different ways users expressed pandemic fatigue and how it was interlaced with issues of trust, preventative measure acceptance and uptake, misinformation, and being overwhelmed with multiple or sustained emergencies. Conclusions: This paper has identified the different ways users express pandemic fatigue on digital channels over a 3-month period. Better understanding the implications of the information environment on user's perceptions, questions, and concerns regarding pandemic and more broadly emergency fatigue is vital in identifying relevant interventions and, in the longer term, strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, prevention, readiness and resilience, as evidenced in this paper. There are clear pathways for further research, including incorporating additional languages and reviewing these themes over longer time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fact-checking information (FCI) serves in the fight against the infodemic and as an information service that helps people use their discretion in judging information in a post-truth era. Therefore, we investigated personal factors influencing users' decisions in using and sharing COVID-19-related FCI in South Korea. The study took three steps to build hypotheses and collect data: a theoretical approach; an empirical approach through in-depth interviews; and an online survey amongst 304 information users who reside in Korea. More strictly, the interview data were analyzed through content analysis, and the online survey data were statistically analyzed using a SPSS 25.0 program. In conclusion, the study revealed that previous political FCI user research ignored health belief variables (health consciousness, perceived severity, and perceived susceptibility), which also influenced FCI usage. Moreover, critical prosuming literacy, a key predictor of sharing and disseminating misinformation, has a strong causal relationship with FCI seeking and sharing. The findings expand the notion of fact-checking from a type of journalism to "information" and "information services" and suggest that fact-checking has the potential to become an expanded information service in which experts in broader areas can participate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of identifying the scenario of the spread of misinformation in the second decade of the present century permeates the analysis of the work of the scientific community supported by technological, educational, and social demands. This issue has become even more relevant in a context of COIVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we investigate the most relevant research themes connected with misinformation addressed in Brazilian research in the field of information science, as well as data on the number of publications per analyzed journal, per year, main keywords, in addition to crossing different data collected in order to better understand this scenario, and the impact of the Pandemic on research about disinformation. This study used descriptive research in compliance with the proposed objective and bibliographic research as a procedural methodology, therefore, aimed at surveying articles in Brazilian journals on Information Science and areas of knowledge such as Library Science, Communication, and Journalism. We collected paper published in 28 Brazilian Journals of Information Science, with results between 2015 and 2021, giving a total of 114 papers. We have identified a number of core topics that are most frequent, allowing for an organization into thematic categories and subcategories. We understand that this phenomenon is not new and characteristic only of contemporary society, but must be investigated in light of recent facts that have driven the publicity of research on the subject. Allied to the misinformation scenario in the last decade, we registered the occurrence of events related to the infodemic and the pandemic responsible for changing the direction of politics, economy, health, and education worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracy beliefs and misinformation can impact health behaviors and initiatives. The current study used structural equation modeling to test integrated models comprised of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Health Belief Model (HBM) within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to determine how conspiracy beliefs may predict relevant behaviors. Based on a sample of 529 US and Canadian adults, two types of behaviors were assessed (i.e., vaccination status and subsequent booster willingness) using models based on two common COVID-19 conspiracy belief types (hoax and government). Overall, conspiracy beliefs predicted most factors of the TPB and HBM. Perceived susceptibility was a consistent mediator regardless of conspiracy type or outcome variable. Findings have implications for public health interventions and compliance with public health initiatives such as vaccination uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) depends upon the active support of all stakeholders. Thus, it is highly relevant and becomes the goal of this paper to perform a pilot case study of the negative determinants of readiness of the new Central European generation of financially sufficiently strong consumers to support CSR, in particular, to answer two research questions: (i) which is the prevailing determinant and (ii) whether it is gender-sensitive. Therefore, 53 male and 53 female Generation Z students from a private university in Prague, ready to pay a CSR bonus, were surveyed in the summer of 2021 regarding the negative determinants of their decisions. The collected answers were statistically processed via cross-tabulation and chi-squared test measures, and the dependence between negative determinants and genders was considered to answer both research questions. The data analysis implies four prevailing negative determinants, two of them related to the infodemic, represented differently by male and female members of Generation Z. This leads to propositions linked to prior studies and advancing them in a new direction. Namely, this indicative pilot case study suggests that Generation Z's readiness to support CSR by paying a CSR bonus is eroded by the infodemic and that male members of Generation Z are more sensitive in this respect than female members. Implications for Central European audience: This article targets the underestimated issue of factors deterring committed young consumers from their support to sustainability via their readiness to pay a CSR bonus. It empirically points out the relevance of proper information and the negative and gender-sensitive impacts of the infodemic. Theoretical implications include a pioneering contribution to the conceptual appreciation, methodological processing and assessment of particular aspects of infodemic and negative CSR determinants for an emerging cohort of Central European consumers. Practical implications include the dramatic importance of enhancement of awareness and practical suggestions regarding how to inform these male and female consumers and engage them in sustainability and CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThe World Health Organization defines “infodemic” as the phenomenon of an uncontrolled spread of information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak, causing confusion and risk-taking behaviors that can harm health. The aim of this scoping review is to examine international evidence and identify strategies and bottlenecks to tackle health-related fake news.MethodsWe performed a scoping review of the literature from 1 January 2018 to 26 January 2023 on PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases. We also performed a search of grey literature on institutional websites. The research question has been defined according to the PCC (population, concept, and context) mnemonic for constructing research questions in scoping reviews.ResultsThe overall research in the scientific databases yielded a total of 5,516 records. After removing duplicates, and screening the titles, abstracts, and full texts, we included 21 articles from scientific literature. Moreover, 5 documents were retrieved from institutional websites. Based on their content, we decided to group recommendations and bottlenecks into five different and well-defined areas of intervention, which we called strategies: “foster proper communication through the collaboration between science and social media companies and users,” “institutional and regulatory interventions,” “check and debunking,” “increase health literacy,” and “surveillance and monitoring through new digital tools.”ConclusionThe multidisciplinary creation of standardized toolkits that collect recommendations from the literature and institutions can provide a valid solution to limit the infodemic, increasing the health education of both citizens and health professionals, providing the knowledge to recognize fake news, as well as supporting the creation and validation of AI tools aimed at prebunking and debunking.

IntroductionThe accuracy and reliability of health information disseminated through news is crucial, as it directly impacts both individual and societal health outcomes. This study aims to analyze the publication process of health content in Türkiye and its implications for public health. By examining the perspectives of various health communication stakeholders, the study seeks to identify existing issues and propose potential solutions.MethodsThe research uses a mixed-methods approach, including baseline content analysis of 846 news by 133 criteria, quantitative research with 78 participants encompassing bureaucrats, academics, journalists, and health association members, and 15 in-depth interviews for comprehensive insights.ResultsThe content analysis indicated that 23.2% of the analyzed news articles lacked credible sources, while 63% did not mention the author’s name. A striking 96.2% of respondents stated that inaccurate health news poses a risk to public health, emphasizing the urgent need for standardized reporting practices. The majority (90.9%) pinpointed the media as the primary catalysts for infodemic spread, with 93.5% citing gatekeepers as barriers to accurate information. Eroding trust in media, fueled by unethical practices, harms both media credibility and effective public health interventions.DiscussionThe study underscores the necessity for a collaborative approach among public institutions, academia, and media, focusing on responsibility, regulation, and sanctions against the infodemic. The research advocates for a balanced approach that prioritizes health rights and press freedom within a stakeholder-driven framework, highlighting that legislation alone cannot fully enhance the digital information ecosystem.

Ensuing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement on 11 March 2020 that Covid-19 had become a global pandemic, many governments worldwide introduced wearing masks as one of the primary measures to abide by in order to limit the spread of the virus. Since then, face masks have become one of the main symbols of the pandemic. Although their effectiveness in reducing the spread of Covid-19 infection has been backed by scientific evidence, wearing face masks has triggered a significant debate, mostly on social media (Baker, Concannon and So 2022; Al-Ramahi et al. 2021). User-generated discourse has expanded dramatically during the pandemic due to the enhanced online interaction possibilities. In particular, mask aversion is still perceived and represented online as an antisocial norm that has emerged during the current Covid-19 pandemic (Kim 2022). This study examines the reactions of Facebook and Twitter users to a recent new Coronavirus alert raised by New York City in response to rising cases, recommending, though not requiring, people to wear masks in public indoor settings. The comments posted were analysed using the basic methodology of Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA), which allows the identification of patterns in interactive message content (Herring 2010), and interpreted through a Critical Discourse Analysis lens to investigate the reasons of Internet users for and against wearing masks as a mitigation measure against Covid-19 spread. A quantitative and qualitative research approach was employed to analyse conversational and behavioural data in the social media discourse framed by the two factions supporting or contrasting mask wearing (Lang, Erickson and Jing-Schmidt 2021; Franz et al. 2019; Martin and White 2005). In addition, this study attempted to assess the variance in response to the same content posted on different platforms. The results show that social media can be a valuable source of data mining that could help decision-makers better understand the public discourse around crucial public health issues like wearing masks to curb the Coronavirus pandemic and effectively address public perception by adopting more suitable policies.

In the context of the recent Covid-19 ‘infodemic,’ the World Health Organization joined forces with Wikipedia, the largest multilingual collaborative online encyclopedia, in order to boost the dissemination of accurate reliable knowledge (WHO 2020, online). It cannot go unnoticed that this agreement implicitly acknowledged the major role Wikipedia plays as a source of medical information on the Web; at the same time it was challenging—albeit for a good cause—the nature of Wikipedia as an encyclopedia. In fact, coping with the Covid-19 emergency has inevitably expanded Wikipedia’s boundaries beyond the limits of the encyclopedia genre, by ‘forcing’ it to chart unknown territories in the pursuit of a balance between established information and ever new data. It is against this background that the impact of this new scenario on the ‘generic integrity’ of Wikipedia is discussed in the present article through the analysis of pages related to Covid-19 in Wikipedia. The basic assumption is that while the interplay between the centrifugal and centripetal forces of discourse remains at the heart of the Wikipedia enterprise (Gatto 2012; Bakhtin 1982), in the case of the Covid-19 health/information crisis a more pressing recourse might have been made to centripetal forces, in ways not dissimilar to the typical ‘gatekeeping’ at work in traditional genres, so as to maintain both generic integrity and high standards in the quality of information.