How science education research journals address (and neglect) trust in science

Journal article

Science education is pivotal in enhancing scientific literacy and potentially contributing to trust in science. The paper examines how trust in science has been addressed in science education by investigating the content of 5 leading research journals. Of the 116 articles published between January 2024 and June 2025 that mentioned “trust” and “mistrust,” only 17 directly engaged with trust in science. Analysis revealed an emphasis on the epistemic aspects of science, with limited attention to affective or political dimensions, and a disproportionate focus on global issues such as COVID-19 and climate change rather than local issues. There was a marked lack of an explicit definition or conceptualisation of ‘trust’ in the papers. We argue that science education research would benefit from interdisciplinary perspectives on trust, including frameworks on the emotional, relational, and ideological characterisations of trust. Such multiplicity of perspectives is relevant to science education given educational contexts inherently embody not only epistemic but also social, political and affective dimensions. Suggestions are made for future directions in science education research for a critical yet balanced account so that trust in science can be appropriated.

Authors: Erduran, S; Cheung, KC

• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Current Opinion in Psychology
• Acceptance date: 2025-11-14
• EISSN: 2352-2518
• ISSN: 2352-250X
• Language: English
• Keywords: conceptualisation of trust; trust in science; science education research; research journals