to the press and general public.

[GoodTaste]

Is there a difference between "to the press and general public" and "to the press and the public"?

My guess is that "general public" and "the public" are not interchangeable. The public doesn't necessarily mean general public; it can refer to the most of people in the scientific community, which general public are out of the door of science.

Am I on the right track?

==================================

Equally our editors, many of whom are women, have been coordinating our 21 journals under difficult circumstances while largely working from home for more than 6 months. In some cases, we have had five times as many submissions as usual, and have had to rapidly publish important work without compromising our usual quality checks or publication processes. We have encouraged and facilitated global medical conversations among the scientific community in our Comment and Correspondence sections, including research-based ideas, as a new way to advance understanding about COVID-19 as quickly as possible. Furthermore, we have attempted to ensure honest reporting of research findings, including to the press and general public.

Source: The Lancet Sep.19, 2020
COVID-19: a stress test for trust in science

[GoesStation]

No. The "general public" is people in general, as opposed to a specific group like the scientific community.

I have no idea what you mean by "out of the door of science".

[GoodTaste]

You haven't answered my question - the difference between "general public" and "the public". Are they interchageable?

"Out of the door of science", for example, a layman like a hick is out of the door of science because he has few or no knowledge of science as opposed to a scientist who has entered the grand building of science and lives there.

[Piscean]

You haven't answered my question - the difference between "general public" and "the public". Are they interchangeable?

I see no significant difference in meaning - certainly not the one you suggested.

"Out of the door of science",

This does not work at all.

[GoodTaste]

How about "outside of the grand building of science"?

[GoesStation]

How about "outside of the grand building of science"?

I get the feeling you're transliteraterating a Chinese idiom. It means nothing in English.

[Piscean]

No.

[GoesStation]

How about "outside of the grand building of science"?

You can use the phrase "edifice of science". "Grand" isn't wrong, but I'd use a different adjective with it.