“In a world of growing geopolitical tensions, science remains one common language for developing coordinated international action. When trust in science is compromised, the capacity for cohesive global policy action is further diminished. The question is how can the multilateral policy interface engage effectively with science, in ways trusted by populations? This working paper addresses
View from The Contextualization Deficit: Reframing trust in science for multilateral policy
“Research can be an insulating endeavor, but bringing my work out of the lab and sharing it with the wider world of politics helped deepen my appreciation for science and the people that fund that science,” writes Ph.D. student Jameson Blount. In this blog post, Blount describes his experience pairing research with science writing.
View from How Science Writing Fuels My Ph.D.
“A recent study finds that sample size is the only factor having a robust influence on 181 science journalists’ ratings of the trustworthiness and newsworthiness of a study. But [the authors] note that, overall, these journalists are doing a ‘very decent job’ vetting research. Here’s how they do it.”
View from How do science journalists decide whether a psychology study is worth covering?
“What are the essentials of a strong proposal for a journalism fellowship? Fellowships can boost your career in many ways. They provide a supportive environment that can yield more impactful stories. They supplement commissions from journalism outlets (and often provide financial assistance for travel). And the prestige of a big fellowship doesn’t hurt a person’s
View from Ask TON: Crafting a winning fellowship proposal
“Grants and fellowships have long been important funding sources, providing writers time and money to dig deeper into a story or subject area than they otherwise could. These sources of outside support range from small travel grants of a few hundred dollars to in-residence fellowships that last as long as a year and provide stipends
View from Paying for it: Getting grants and fellowships
“You as journalists can have life-changing impacts on those reading, watching or listening. To help, the IOP has produced a guide and a handy checklist to help ensure that your coverage of physics steers clear of entrenched stereotypes and instead presents an accurate representation of our subject and who does it. Our guide is packed
View from How to report on physics and physicists in an accurate and accessible way
Sahana Ghosh, associate editor at Nature India, describes lessons and takeaways from a workshop that she led to help Indian newsrooms address climate misinformation. “I came away with a strong conclusion: there is a clear need for climate literacy in newsrooms,” Ghosh writes. “Without it, journalists cannot counter climate misinformation and disinformation, or provide good
View from To help journalists cover rising temperatures, newsrooms need to start with climate literacy
“The absence of trees is not just an aesthetic discrepancy — it can impact human health and well-being, a growing body of research shows.” This tip sheet from The Journalist’s Resource describes findings from several studies on this topic, including key results, quotes from the studies, and authors who may be useful sources for reporters.
View from Tree equity and trees’ impact on surface temperatures, human health: A research roundup
As fall approaches and the FDA and CDC evaluate updated vaccines for COVID-19, “it’s crucial [that reporters] work to dispel any confusion about the boosters and provide their audience with contextual information about how booster shot recommendations are made.” In this article from the Association of Health Care Journalists, journalist Tara Haelle gives background on
View from Curbing the confusion: Strategies for covering the latest COVID booster shot approvals
“In this late stage of the pandemic, it may feel challenging to keep COVID-19 stories fresh for a fatigued public. But COVID-19 is here to stay, so it may help to think of COVID-19 stories much as you would your annual flu stories: Even if it feels as though you’ve written it before, your audience
View from How to report on the COVID-19 uptick when the public says ‘meh’
This interview between journalist Dan Falk and ocean chemist Christopher Reddy discusses what reporters and researchers can do to better work together on covering natural disasters and other scientific events with major impacts. “I’ll tell [colleagues] that journalists and scientists have a lot more in common — we both like to chase, we both like
View from How scientists can help reporters cover disasters
Journalist Barbara Mantel hosted a webinar on breaking into narrative journalism with panelists Jane C. Hu, a freelance writer based in Seattle; Brady Huggett, the enterprise editor at Spectrum; and Pamela Weintraub, the senior editor for science and psychology at Aeon and the co-editor in chief of OpenMind magazine. This article rounds up the some
View from Top tips for breaking into narrative journalism
“PubPeer, a website where researchers critique one another’s work, has played a key role in helping journalists uncover scientific misconduct in several prominent investigative stories in recent years — including the student newspaper series that led to Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s recent resignation.” This story offers tips to help journalists use PubPeer for story
View from 5 tips for using PubPeer to investigate scientific research errors and misconduct
This tip sheet from The Journalist’s Resource focuses on who’s at most risk from the effects of climate change. “Studies show that extreme heat can affect most people, particularly vulnerable populations like children, older adults and outdoors workers. We round up recent studies that shed light on how warming temperatures due to climate change are
View from How extreme heat affects human health: A research roundup
“Researchers write journal articles to share information about what they’ve learned and how they’ve learned it. But those articles are only able to impart that information if people read them. The role of a news release, in this context, is to raise awareness of a new discovery via established news media outlets (even if that
View from How — and why — to write a science news release
This guide, written by science journalism and communication trainer Mohamed Elsonbaty Ramadan, explains science journalism basics for Arabic-langauge speakers. (The resource is written in Arabic.)
View from How to become a science journalist? A practical guide on science journalism basics in Arabic
“Communicating about science allows researchers to step away from the minutiae of a subdiscipline and to once again explore the breadth of science more fully through an ever-evolving array of stories. A doctoral degree can confer distinct advantages in the eyes of prospective editors and employers. Here I describe those advantages, possible career directions, and
View from Science communication: a career where PhDs can make a difference
The author writes: “I am a postdoctoral fellow and freelance science writer and editor. Here, I describe 10 simple rules for planning, developing, and evaluating science communication activities. Though I focus on scientists communicating with nonscientists, much of the advice applies to other forms of science communication such as expert-to-expert communication (e.g., talks and posters
View from Ten simple rules for scientists engaging in science communication
This 2002 issue of Nieman Reports focuses on issues facing science journalism, including a variety of articles on various topics. “Those who report on science have never been better prepared to do so, according to Los Angeles Times science and technology writer Robert Lee Hotz, whose insights open our section on science journalism. But as
View from Nieman Reports: Science Journalism
Blog post about finding science communication opportunities, focused on the process of moving from research to scicomm. “All of the opportunities below are either targeted specifically at PhD students or researchers, or are available to anyone. They are also mostly unpaid, or they just cover transportation costs”
View from Finding science communication opportunities as a researcher
At the 2023 Association of Health Care Journalists conference in St. Louis, Missouri, Ph.D. candidate Maya Gosztyla provided an overview of literature mapping tools, RSS feeds, research management software and databases to help journalists organize their research. Here are her tips and tools.
View from Organizing your research: A scientist’s tips for journalists
An exploration of millennials’ science media consumption habits, curiosity about science, and cultural beliefs has revealed some useful insights for engaging this generation when it comes to science. The series of articles is the product of a three-year, $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to KQED to work in partnership with academic researchers
View from Cracking the Code: Influencing millennial science engagement
This checklist from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers tips, advice, and strategies on how to make health information accessible to a broad range of people — from scientists and health professionals to health educators to patients and the general public.
View from A checklist for communicating science and health research to the public
This guide offers tips for scientists on how to use social media to network and in your science outreach efforts. It includes guides to specific platforms, as well as tips for talking about science on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit. The guide is part of a set of resources on science outreach and communication.
View from Scientist Guide to Social Media
In this white paper, the Science Literacy Foundation redefines science literacy for the 21st century, mapping out the challenges and opportunities ahead. “In the SLF view, being scientifically literate means having the cognitive skills for independent, critical thinking; the curiosity required to seek new information; and an understanding of science as a dynamic, pragmatic process
View from Science for All and All for Science: Road map to a new science literacy