This article, product of theoretical research, has as goal to signal the theoretical similarities between the approaches to knowledge management and to scientific communication. The clarification of the convergence points between such approaches is justified by the necessity of conceptual foundation for the studies on scientific knowledge management in the academic environment, since the specialized literature until the present moment seems not to consider the specificities within this context, or even the characteristics of the production and the communication of this type of knowledge. These reflections consider initially, the communication and knowledge management from the point of view of the enterprise organizations, preparing a theoretical model that illustrates the relationship between communication, culture and knowledge management. In a second moment, on the basis of theoretical reflections, it directs the discussion to the academic environment, considering, in the model, the scientific communication, the scientific culture and the knowledge management. After that, it explores the similarities between knowledge management and the scientific communication, based on a comparison between the processes involved in both approaches. The conclusion points out to the processes of scientific communication as an essential and indispensable layer to the management of scientific knowledge within the university context.
knowledge management; scientific communication; scientific knowledge management; knowledge management in universities