Trust in science: considering whom to trust for knowing what is true

The published version is now available here: https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781802200942/book-part-9781802200942-11.xml The chapter provides a conceptual clarification of the concept 'public trust in science'. Our starting point is the model of trust formulated by Mayer, Davis, and Schoormann (1995), which has been widely used in trust research since then. Here, it is now specified for the context of citizens' encounter with science, by using the example of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in particular the Hydroxychloroquine controversy (which started with a heavily criticized as methodologically flawed study by French microbiologist D. Raoult, who continued to sell the study’s claims on the media). We differentiate trust from trustworthiness; and propose a distinction between epistemic trust (depending on science regarding the validity of knowledge) and instrumental trust (depending on science regarding its impact on one’s aims). We then introduce the notion of informed trust to describe that public trust in science has a rational basis. Finally, challenges and ways for the promotion of public trust in science are outlined.