Geoscience Communication – Building bridges , not walls

Welcome to the journal of Geoscience Communication! Since launching in April 2018, we have had dozens of great inquiries, many of which have been along the lines of “So what is the Geoscience Communication (GC) journal all about? ” As such, we decided to write this editorial in order to introduce ourselves (the executive editors of GC), to provide a history of its development, and to serve as a guideline for future authors who wish to submit to this journal. We hope that this article serves as a useful aid for people who are considering publishing in GC, as well as the wider geoscience community, and that it can act in the first instance as an FAQ for authors, editors, and readers alike. As executive editors we are responsible for helping to ensure the credibility of the journal, and for providing assistance to editors, reviewers, and authors during the peer review process. The most important thing that we need to stress here is that we are all human beings, and that if you have any questions please just reach out to us by using the email address gc-executiveeditors@mailinglists.copernicus. org, which gets sent to all of us. One of us will try to get back to you within 48 h, and we are always happy to hear any suggestions or improvements that you might have for the journal. But who are we? Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK, where his research involves the development of dialogue between scientists and non-scientists, facilitating this through the use of poetry and games. Kirsten is an Associate Professor in Geography with an interest in the selforganisation that occurs in natural systems, and the challenges that we face in communicating risk. Iain is Professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth and works with media production companies making popular science television documentaries. Jon is a palaeontologist and “rogue researcher”, currently working on a range of projects related to either dinosaurs or scholarly communication, including primary research, publishing consultancy, and the development of an Open Science Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This journal follows on from several years of market research, feasibility studies, and discussions within and across the global geoscience community. Following several of these discussions, particularly at the European Geoscience Union (EGU) 2015 General Assembly, a special issue in the Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS) and Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) journals entitled “Effective Science Communication and Education in Hydrology and Natural Hazards” was commissioned (see e.g. Gires et al., 2016). The objective of this special issue was to bring together contributions from a broad range of disciplines across both hydrology and natural hazards in relation to best practices in effective science communication and education. Contributions were solicited that specifically addressed these issues, and which had clear objectives and research methodologies. Case studies and other experiences were also welcomed as long as they were rigorously presented and evaluated. This special issue consisted of 13 peer reviewed papers, and the resulting metrics demonstrate a good reception for these articles amongst the geoscience community, with all articles receiving wide dissemination and citation. For example, to date “Using video games for volcanic hazard education and communication: an assessment of the method and