How do you read a scientific article? What are the phases of a clinical trial? What are the differences between climate change and global warming? These guides answer questions for journalists and communication departments. Other specific guides help research staff when dealing with the media.
Every time there is a heat wave, a DANA or a flooding episode, the question arises: is it the fault of climate change? Attribution studies try to find out the relationship between a particular phenomenon and global warming as a result of human action.
Every February 28 or 29, World Rare Disease Day is celebrated, an initiative that aims to raise awareness about rare diseases in order to improve access to diagnosis and treatment and achieve a better quality of life among those who suffer from them. Here are some frequently asked questions about the most important concepts, their current situation and the main complaints that affected individuals and families continue to have.
11 February marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, proclaimed by the UN in 2015. It aims to "promote the full and equal participation" of women and girls in education, employment and decision-making. This document, which is open to suggestions from journalists and the research community, compiles resources to cover women and girls in science, on this day and throughout the year.
Studies on risks, especially those related to health, generate headlines because they are of concern to the public. A good understanding of risk is crucial for making decisions such as getting vaccinated, taking care of one's diet, choosing a contraceptive method or changing consumer habits. However, it is difficult: it is a statistical concept that is often identified with danger and provokes feelings, so its perception is subjective. This guide, accompanied by an infographic, brings together seven recommendations for risk information from the expert María del Carmen Climént.
The survey Scientific Disinformation in Spain, carried out by FECYT in the framework of the European project IBERIFIER, shows that most citizens are concerned about the effects of scientific disinformation and that they do not feel very confident when it comes to differentiating between false and true content. The report includes a series of recommendations for dealing with this type of misinformation, which are reproduced below.
All researchers who collaborate with SMC Spain or with the media in assessing scientific news must declare their potential conflicts of interest. Below we explain our policy for declaring these possible conflicts.
Based on the Decalogue of recommendations for climate change communication signed in 2018 by more than 80 media outlets, environmental communication professionals from all over Spain, together with the scientific team of the Climate Change Communication Observatory, have drawn up the new Decalogue 2022, a guide for the social communication of the climate crisis. A summarised version is reproduced below.
When science hits the headlines, there are controversial issues that generate criticism of scientists. If they become attacks, they should be reported to the research centre and to the authorities. We summarise and adapt the UK SMC's recommendations in these situations.
After many decades of study and thanks to the use of very precise techniques, we know more and more about these mysterious and huge bodies in the cosmos. Astronomers around the world are networking with powerful telescopes to better understand them.
"According to a study" is a phrase that is as used as it is inaccurate: not everything that journals publish is a study, nor have all their articles been peer-reviewed. As in traditional media, there are different genres ranging from Letters to Editorials. Here are some of the most important ones.