Introduction from Matt DeRienzo, SciLine director

On the SciLine toolkit, Evidence-based reporting tools and tips for 2025

To readers,

The likelihood of a drastic change in policy priorities from a new presidential administration poses a significant challenge for newsrooms in 2025. A dizzying number of urgent policy debates are coming simultaneously on issues with deep implications for local communities—from vaccines, to immigration, to climate change. Scientific consensus will be challenged, and misinformation will spread. Journalists who push back will be met with distrust from a big swath of a heavily polarized audience.  

With reliance on the incredible, complementary work being done by collaborators including The Journalist’s Resource at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center and The Open Notebook, we built this toolkit as a strictly nonpartisan resource for newsrooms seeking to cut through the political back-and-forth to reach people with evidence-based information that can inform decisions about their own health and well-being, how they treat others, and how they influence public policy in their communities, states, and country. 

Evidence-based research is essential to help newsrooms improve the accuracy of their reporting, to thwart misinformation, to hold policymakers accountable for unscientific claims, and to shed light on solutions to societal problems. Unfortunately, many journalists have trouble reaching scientific experts on deadline, don’t know which experts to cite, don’t know how to identify high-quality research, which can lead to errors and the absence of important context.

Research has shown that people who understand how research methods work, how scientific consensus on an issue is built—and how it can evolve, change or be corrected over time as we learn more—are less susceptible to believing misinformation and pseudoscience. Journalists can play a critical role in that. 

There are two main parts to this toolkit: A collection of tip sheets on understanding how scientific research works and advice on how to incorporate it into your journalism, and a series of briefings and context from experts on some of the biggest and most polarizing issues newsrooms will confront in 2025.  

In addition, this toolkit includes a guide to free ongoing services offered by SciLine and others. That includes training for journalists in understanding the essentials of scientific research, background briefings on the biggest issues of 2025 and our unique on-deadline expert matching service for newsrooms. Bookmark the toolkit to keep up with programming we’ll be offering throughout the year. 

Please also consider this an invitation to reach out to us if we can help with the unique circumstances your newsroom is facing or if you’re interested in partnering with SciLine in some other way. 

Matt DeRienzo
Director, SciLine
mderienzo@aaas.org