In this paper, questionnaire survey, in-depth interview and expert consultation method are used to study the motives, incentives, initiatives and influential factors of Chinese scientific researchers’ participation in science popularization, analyze the current issues and discuss the incentive policy on science popularization. The research shows that the main influential factors of the incentives for scientific researchers to popularize science are “the institution’s valuation and organization of science popularization events” and “the specific incentive policies for scientific researchers on their evaluation criterion and promotion of professional title”. The catchiest problems in existence are: performances of science popularization are not effectively weighed by the individual evaluation criterion; the evaluation mechanism on scientific institutions of their performances and projects of science popularization is deficient. Efforts shall be made to promote the understanding of the responsibilities and functions of science popularization for scientific communities, improve the evaluation system for scientific researchers to popularize science, establish an incentive mechanism for the evaluation of science popularization projects, strengthen the positive incentives for institutions and individuals participating in science popularization, and increase the intensity and scope of science popularization awarding.