During the first half of this century, reporters could often be identified in cartoons by the press sign tucked into their hatbands. If hats should again come into style among science journalists, the signs might say "Ph.D." The reason: there is increased interest among Ph.D.s in science journalism.

The best evidence for the trend comes from the directors of two well-known science writing programs in the United States. "There is no question that more Ph.D. scientists are applying to my and other science journalism programs," says Ellen Ruppel Shell, codirector of the Program in Science Journalism at Boston University. The number of Ph.D. applicants for the graduate Science Communication Program at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) has increased significantly since the program was featured on Science magazine's online Next Wave Web site, according to the director of the UCSC program, John Wilkes. Entrance to his program, unlike others, requires both research experience and a degree in science. Wilkes has seen the number of applicants with Ph.D.s increase annually since his program began in 1981. This year, seven out of ten students seeking a certificate from USCS have doctorates.

While there is little doubt of increased interest, it is difficult to document an increase in the actual numbers of prospective or working science journalists with advanced degrees. Wilkes would not reveal the number of applications he received for the ten coveted spots in his program, although he did say there were many.

The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) directory does not provide any clues either. The organization does not routinely list initials after member's names. Initials - as any editor will tell you - are no indication of writing ability.

"I don't really know if the number has changed," says Diane McGurgan, administrative secretary of the NASW. "We don't care. You are a writer; what does it matter whether you have your M.A., M.S., or Ph.D.?" McGurgan added that the initials also mess up her computer formatting. The only degrees that are consistently listed in the NASW directory, according to McGurgan, are M.D.s (or, as many people know them, "real doctors").

Advertising a degree provides, by itself, no benefit at a time when competition for science writing jobs is increasing. "My guess is that there has always been a smattering of these [science writers with Ph.D.s]," Shell says, "and that there will continue to be - but that at one time Ph.D.s with a great writing talent did not require a writing program to get published. Now, with competition being so stiff, a scientist may need more than a talent for writing to break into science journalism."

There are many reasons more scientists want to leave one competitive field for another. "They are realizing that they are going to have to live somewhere they don't want to live if they want to stay in science. That is one of the main motivations," Wilkes explained.

Other motivations are the negative aspects of running a lab: the responsibility, the headaches, and the unending grant-writing pressures in a competitive environment in which missing a grant means having to fire lab assistants.

Wilkes does not mention the knee-jerk explanation or accusation voiced by some traditionally trained science writers who see Ph.D.s eyeing their turf: Ph.D.s turn to writing because they can't cut it in science. Some are insulted that untrained writers assume it is somehow easier to succeed in science journalism than in science research. Wanna-be writers are not unusual in many fields.

A more significant point may be the number of qualified scientists who are considering a career writing. "There are many who apply who don't get in [to the USCS program] including Ph.D.s from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT," Wilkes says. The successful applicants are, Wilkes says, "very, very good at [research] but they can't imagine living the rest of their lives focusing on some tiny aspect of a nematode worm. It makes them uneasy to think about themselves that way."

That would sound familiar to Michelle Lim, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at the Australian National University in Canberra. As she approaches the end of her doctoral studies, she is wondering what it would be like to be a science writer.

"All the struggles seem to outweigh one temporary high of a successful experiment," Lim says.

If Lim and other young researchers shift fields, they will have to prove themselves to many established science journalists whose complaints are often directed at scientists who assume they can become science writers as a whim.

Jon Franklin, Bylines editor and freelancer, wrote in the NASW discussion forum:

Jeff Hecht, freelance writer and Boston correspondent for New Scientist, told his colleagues in the same forum, "You soon encounter scientists convinced that science writing has to be easy for someone of their intelligence. Most are sadly mistaken."

USA Today science reporter Doug Levy notes that the scientific and the journalistic background each provides its own advantages and disadvantages. "I'm a firm believer that those of us without formal science training have some advantages: I have to ask enough questions to really understand a study before I can write about it," Levy wrote in the NASW forum.

Many successful writers with science backgrounds, however, would agree with Marcia Barinaga, who wrote in her profile for Next Wave, "While a Ph.D. is not a requirement for a science writer, it is an asset, and science journalism is an attractive alternative career for people with Ph.D.s. I feel that my research training has definitely helped me in my science writing. I think of science journalism as a labor of love rather than a default career choice for someone looking for an alternative to research."

Eventually all discussion of the qualifications of science writers must return to one obvious point: the quality of the writing. Successful science writers with or without advanced degrees are, in the end, writers.

"The key thing that distinguishes the Ph.D.s I take into the program from those that apply and don't get in is that they have to be good writers." Wilkes says. "They have to be not only competent writers . . . they have to sparkle. They have to be real writers. Not many of them have that quality but some do."

Science's Next Wave - an excellent source of ideas and information for scientists considering careers outside of the lab, including science writing.

Science Communication Program - at the University of California at Santa Cruz; offers graduate certificate programs in Science Writing and in Science Illustration. For those with a background in science who want programs requiring some research experience.

"Scientists Can Help Keep the Media's Take on Research Closer to Reality" - another opinion of what it is like "straddling the worlds of science and journalism," by Ricki Lewis. From The Scientist, November 25, 1996.