‘Science policy’ Google searches spiked in 2025. What does that mean?

As I have spoken with more and more practitioners, I have come to see civic science as a set of distinct and overlapping practices that include science communication, citizen science, science journalism, science policy, and informal science, among others. Each represents a different pathway through which practitioners engage their communities with science, whether by creating opportunities to participate in research, communicating the latest scientific discoveries, engaging policymakers, or creating learning opportunities beyond formal classroom settings.

In early 2025, we started analyzing Google search trends to understand how people were navigating these civic science domains (read more here). Google Trends’ Interest over time metric reflects search interest relative to the highest point on the chart. Based on data from 2024, science communication was the most popular search term relative to the other civic science domains, followed by science policy, citizen science, science journalism, and informal science.

The updated data (see figure) shows a sharp spike in science policy search interest that begins in August 2025 and remains elevated relative to the other terms through the end of the year.

Fanuel Muindi

Fanuel Muindi is a former neuroscientist turned civic science ethnographer. He is a professor of the practice in the Department of Communication Studies within the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University, where he leads the Civic Science Media Lab. Dr. Muindi received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Organismal Biology from Morehouse College and Stanford University, respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT.