As academic blogging becomes mainstream, science communication must facilitate depth and breadth in online discourse.

Having recently attended a conference session on the role of online forums for science communication, Alan Cann reflects on the extent to which academic blogging is currently embedded in academic practice. Blogs are still the centre of serious online academic communication but there is still a long way to go until the Republic of Blogs is established and academic blogging moves from being a spare time activity to a mainstream output.