The Science Media Centre Spain provides what you need when science hits the headlines. What do we do exactly, how do we work, who are we? Find out below.
The SMC Spain provides resources for journalists, researchers and press officers, to help enhance news coverage when science hits the headlines.
The SMC Spain is an independent office that provides the media with resources, reliable content, and expert sources to cover science-related news. Set up by the Spanish Foundation of Science and Technology (FECYT), we are part of an international network of SMCs that started in 2002.
Because–to paraphrase the SMC UK—the media will do science better when scientists do the media better. Lots of science news generate controversy, and improving public debate requires nuanced context, reliable sources and evidence.
We offer content to cover science news at different speeds: quick expert reactions, explainers and analysis. We also offer resources on communication and current affairs, as well as briefings for journalists–all under a Creative Commons licence.
We look out for controversial science news to react with the speed that the media needs. We cover embargoed science articles and monitor public debates that require specialist input to provide rigour and context to journalists as quickly as possible.
You can find us on this website and on our social media channels. We also send embargoed and non-embargoed content to registered journalists so that they can quickly include it in their news coverage.
Our team is made up of journalists with extensive experience in science news. We work together with scientists, as well as press offices of research centres and universities, and with the support of our advisory board.
The SMC Spain aims to enhance science media coverage with context, expert sources, and the best available evidence. This is the only way to improve the quality of public debates on the many topical issues linked to science.
This group of independent advisors provides guidance and expertise to our team.
When science generates controversy on the news agenda, the SMC Spain responds quickly with 'reactions' from expert sources that help put the news in context. The topics we cover can originate from research results (which we find out about before they are published, through the embargo system of scientific journals) or from current affairs (statements, crises, announcements, etc.).
We also publish articles written by specialists: ‘expert voices’ columns and explainers written by members of the editorial staff, called ‘what we know’.
We choose sources according to their expertise, seeking different points of view among the scientific community that help enrich public debate. We also strive to ensure gender balance among our sources and to state possible conflicts of interest for each of them.
The SMC Spain compiles a database of researchers for internal use only, with labels by area. If you, as a scientist, would like to be included in this database, please write to us.
The contents of the SMC Spain are published under the Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence, which permits the copying, distribution, public communication, and transformation of such contents, including for commercial purposes.
- Journalists can subscribe to access embargoed content before science information is made public. They will have to agree in writing to comply with the embargo policy, and will be responsible for ensuring that embargoed materials are not disseminated, be it in part or in full. The SMC Spain reserves the right to authorise registration. In no event shall SMC Spain be liable for the misuse of embargoed material by a journalist. Failure to comply with the embargo policy will result in the journalist's automatic removal from the SMC Spain’s list.
- Press officers can register their institutions in the SMC Spain’s directory, to make searches easier for journalists. This also means that all the content produced with input from scientists from a given research centre will appear together on our website.
The mission of an SMC is to make the best available science available to journalists. Operational and editorial independence is achieved through:
- A statute that ensures the independence of SMC Spain, avoiding any kind of interference in its contents, whatever the subject matter.
- An advisory board, made up of independent volunteer advisors from the fields of science, engineering, medicine, journalism, and communication, who provide expertise and guidance.
In addition to a governance structure that ensures independence, another key element for the SMCs is sustained funding over time. Some centres have achieved this through a model of external funding from multiple sources, with a maximum percentage share of the total for each funder, so that the SMC’s activity is not subject to the interests of any one institution.
Other SMCs operate with public funding and small private donations. The Spanish SMC was launched with funding from FECYT and, if deemed appropriate in the future, donations may be sought from organisations with an interest in scientific information: research bodies and centres, universities, science-based companies, publishers, professional and patient societies, the media, research funders and the government itself.
A Science Media Centre (SMC) is an independent communications office that helps ensure that the public has access to the best science through the media when science hits the headlines. There are several SMCs around the world: in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Canada, Germany, Africa and Japan. Although each operates autonomously, they all come together in an international consortium. SMC Spain, launched by FECYT, has joined this network.
Yes, each SMC retains its independence, but we all share guiding principles with a clear mission: to enhance public debate and discussion of current affairs by bringing evidence-based information to the headlines.
We offer formats with varying degrees of depth and immediacy to cover science-related news. We produce these types of products now, with more to come in the future.
- Reactions: when science hits the headlines, we seek the point of view of different authoritative sources that assess the news with rigour and speed, according to the available evidence and outlining the accepted consensus and controversies in the scientific community.
- Expert voices: each one of these pieces is an in-depth, more relaxed analysis of a topical issue commented on by specialists in that subject. These ‘expert voices’ put news stories into context, especially those involving controversies of social interest, which can be easily misinterpreted.
- What we know: the SMC team produces explanatory articles on topical issues to answer society’s questions, with the necessary context and depth. The sources and resources used to produce the article are always provided.
- Resource library: guides on different scientific topics for journalists and communication departments. Also, hints and suggestions are aimed at research staff, to help them when dealing with the media.
- Briefings: we bring together journalists and scientific sources to answer questions and discuss current issues. These can be face-to-face or virtual. Registration is required.
The contents are aimed at three profiles: journalists, research staff and press office technicians. Through these three audiences, the work of SMC Spain will also reach the public.
The Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence allows them to be republished in whole or in part, citing SMC Spain as the source. In the case of content signed by an author, the media outlet must cite SMC Spain and the author. In addition, if the content is disseminated via the Internet, it must be linked to the SMC Spain website.
The Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence allows the contents to be republished in whole or in part, citing SMC Spain as the source. In the case of content signed by an author, the media outlet must cite SMC Spain and the author. In addition, if the content is disseminated via the Internet, it must be linked to the SMC Spain website.
The only specific agenda an SMC must have is to promote the dissemination of evidence-based science. Therefore, it must maintain its operational and editorial independence. This is achieved by:
- A statute that ensures the independence of SMC Spain, avoiding any kind of interference in its contents, whatever the subject matter.
- An Advisory Committee composed of a group of independent volunteer advisors from the fields of science, engineering, medicine, journalism, and communication, who provide expertise and advice.
In addition to independence in governance, another key element for SMCs is sustained funding over time. Some have achieved this through an external multi-funding model, with a cap on grants for each funding body, which ensures that their activity is not subject to the interests of any one institution.
Other SMCs operate with state public funding and small private donations. The Spanish SMC has been launched with funding from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).
They are different media with different content: the SINC agency team produces news, reports, and interviews on different current scientific topics, while the editors of SMC Spain focus on gathering quick reactions from expert sources, write explanatory pieces that do not amount to reports (the ‘what we know’ articles) and write guides on different topics for researchers and journalists.
The only format they have in common is the opinion pieces written by scientists (called ‘expert voices’ in SMC Spain).
- It is not a repository of press releases.
- It is not a press office that provides journalists with contacts to scientists.
- It is not a regular media outlet with news, features and interviews; that is the SINC agency.