Abstract Science journalism is undergoing a major transition due to changes in the relationship between science and society and dissemin - ation via digital and connective technologies, as is the case with other branches of journalism. The changes occurring in science journalism may concern medical writers who deal with communication targeted at nonexperts, in particular patients. This article presents a number of scenarios and a series of significant results of research that fuel the debate on the future of the information systems dealing with science, technology, and healthcare. Although the outlines of a new professional identity are still indefinite, some distinctive features emerge with more clarity than before. Science journalists will, on the one hand, have to integrate their traditional science translator skills with those of organisers and curators of the knowledge generated by different communities; on the other, they could become more and more the generators of new knowledge themselves.