Instant poll finds that scientists and allied health professionals prefer that advertisements be relegated to the back of publications
The message from a recent instant poll sponsored by Science Advisory Board is that scientists and allied health professionals prefer that advertisements be relegated to the back of the publications they read.
Of the 1340 participants in the poll, 40% would like to see a special section in the back of journals, magazines and newspapers that contains advertisements.
In contrast, only 24% of those surveyed would like the status quo to remain and believe that advertisements should be distributed throughout the publication.
The remainder, 10%, would like advertisements to be located in the front of publications. "Given how busy most scientists and health care professionals are these days, most have very limited time to keep abreast of their field's developments as cited in the literature," claims Tamara Zemlo, director of scientific and medical communications for the Science Advisory Board. "Therefore, when they do have some spare minutes to catch up on a few articles, they don't appreciate being distracted by advertisements".
Instead members of the Science Advisory Board indicate that they would like a special advertising section that they could peruse at their leisure.
Not only is the fact that it would be placed in an unobtrusive location attractive to them, but also grouping all the advertisements together - possibly by product or instrument category - would make it a convenient resource.
