Public Trust in Science: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review of factors influencing public trust in science provides insights for strengthening science-society relationships and informing responsible research practices. Our analysis of 124 empirical studies reveals multiple factors that are linked to trust in science, which we organize into three key categories: (a) Receiver—individual characteristics of the public, (b) Message—scientific information and its delivery, and (c) Source—scientists and the scientific method. Our synthesis demonstrates that trust in science is related to multiple factors, from individual factors (prior beliefs, attitudes, values, epistemic beliefs) to communication (such as channel credibility, ethics communication) and scientific practices (open science, replicability). Our findings have several important implications for research practice, science communication and education. Most notably, the findings highlight the pivotal role of research integrity in fostering and maintaining public trust in science, with scientists’ perceived integrity, epistemic practices that support transparency, and epistemic inclusion all being fundamentally interconnected in shaping public trust.