Search
You are here:家/Practical guides/ How to report scientific findings

Image: stock photo

31/05/19

现在注册 - 记者的科学沟通技巧with Dr Charles Wendo

Script Practical Guide

How to report scientific findings

速度阅读

  • 新闻稿可能使事情变得容易，但容易夸大
  • Read the research paper to get details on context, method and potential impact
  • 然后，您可以准确，负责任地报告 - 并用颜色飞溅

由:Juan Casasbuenas and Bernard Appiah

Start with the press release
Read the research paper
Enrich the story
Best Practices
Final checklist

Start with the Press Release:

You can use press releases as a starting point, to get some basic information such as contact details, initial story ideas and context. Here are a few things you should bear in mind when reading a press release
Check for hyperbole Press releases sometimes oversell or extrapolate results. Check the language — are they suggesting this is a ‘‘cure’’ or a ‘‘magic bullet’’? Is the release implying cause-and-effect when in fact the study revealed only an association? Are there claims that the findings are applicable to humans when the research suggests it’s too early to tell? Note these down and check whether they can be justified.
检查上下文或缺乏上下文 A release might present research as being a huge leap in the field when most likely it is a small step forward. Is it the first study ever of its kind or does it build on previous work? At what stage of development is this field or technique? Do other studies have similar results or does this one contradict the status quo?
Don’t be misled 新闻稿通常没有提及在属于新创新可能起作用的情况下。这可能意味着一种新技术在现实世界中起作用，而原始论文仅在受控条件下起作用。
Check image rights Press releases sometimes use illustrations from stock graphics sites such as Flickr, which you may not have permission to use. Always double check.

Read the Research Paper:

You don’t need to read the paper from beginning to end, but instead look out for specific things in each section
标题和摘要 These can be quite technical but will provide you with the first hint of what the researchers found, the scope of the work and so on. The last sentence of the abstract often states the main research finding.
Introduction The introduction usually puts the research into context, giving references to previous literature and other important players in the field who might be useful to contact. It begins to answer the ‘‘so what? ’’
It will also tell you what is already known in the field and therefore the gap the research addresses.
Methods This section can be challenging to read, but here you can answer questions about the way the work was carried out. Was the drug tested on mice or humans? How many? Was the new device tested in the field or in controlled conditions? Does the technique use existing methods or an improved version? Is there something about the technique that raises questions for you?
Results Good papers will summarise results in reasonably readable figures and tables and lay out the finding in each experiment. It is possible you won’t fully grasp the statistics employed but pay attention to words such as ‘‘significant’’ and ‘‘non-significant‘‘.
Discussion 这是作者将解释发现的含义并推测作品的含义的地方。他们还将确定回答其余问题所需的进一步工作。这项工作的局限性将在此处突出显示，以及作者用来证明其结论合理的有用参考。
Author list In theory, this should include everyonewho was involved in the research and willing to take responsibility for it。通常情况下,前面的名字在列表中是很高的ly involved, while the last name is the person in charge of the research group. The former can give you specific commentary on the work itself, while the latter is likely to have more experience of talking to journalists and putting the work into context. This can vary across disciplines though, for example alphabetical order is used in mathematics or in large physics research groups.
Where was the research carried out? The fact that a particular city or country was involved in the research can be newsworthy in itself and might help you choose which outlet to pitch to. For example, SciDev.Net is interested in research carried out in developing countries.
Submission date 请注意，并将其与出版日期进行比较。花了多少时间？时间越长，您就越可能询问作者的新发展。
Conflicts of interest Authors have to declare where their funding came from, and whether they have any competing interests. It’s worth a quick look into these declared interests. For example, an author might have a financial link to a company that sponsored or will benefit from the work.

Enrich the Story:

Once you’ve extracted key information from the paper, there is a lot you can do to bring the story to life
Email then phone call Get the contact details for the key authors of the paper. Send an email requesting a brief interview but follow-up with a phone call, especially in regions where email replies might be slow.

Make phone calls for quotes

 People tend to talk more naturally over the phone and you are more likely to get quotable comments than over email. You might also get more revealing answers to difficult questions.
Ask if you don’t understand Authors might use technical terms when explaining the findings of their work. Always ask if you don’t understand. Keep a list of terms from the paper that you want to ask about.

Balance it out

 Ask someone working in the same field to comment on the findings. This is especially important for papers that are making big claims. Remember that you can get ideas for commenters in the introduction and discussion of the paper.
本地表示 If you are reporting on a story that affects a particular country or city, ensure those local voices are heard too. This advice is also applicable to local expertise.
Include visuals Sometimes images/graphs might be released with the research or available on request. If not, you might want to create your own infographics or graphs based on the findings. This could make your piece particularly appealing on social media. Acknowledge the source of any visuals you used.

Suggest captions

 编辑倾向于为随附文章的任何图像编写字幕。但是，这并不能阻止您提出建议，并且很可能会使用您的指导来确保文本与图像相关。
Find the human angle In cases where the research has an end-user, such as a patient or farmer, consider getting a more human perspective by talking to someone who might be affected by the work.
这项工作的受益者是谁？有可能受到负面影响的人吗？考虑到这将使您能够更有效地与受众联系。
Serve your audience 记住要考虑您的听众和出口。您如何为他们量身定制故事？
Reveal the personal angle Bringing out the personal side of research can make your story more interesting. Ask the scientists about their own experience of doing the research. Perhaps they were frustrated for years before making this discovery, or have tales to tell of being filled with wonder when they looked at their results.

最佳实践：

Some of these tips have been touched on already, but are worthy of their own section. Following this advice will help ensure you report fairly and transparently
Fact-check with an expert If possible, ask someone you trust to scan the study and tell you what they think. For example, are the paper’s conclusions hyperbolic?
确定大小和性质 如果研究对受试者进行了测试，是否基于人类试验的发现？还是老鼠？还是在试管中？样本量有多大？从本质上讲，我们如何直接将发现应用于作品的最终目标？
Don’t report causality without evidence Sometimes scientists will report associations or links between two things, but might not present conclusive evidence for causality. Researchers are usually careful about the language they use in this context, and the discussion section should shed light on this.

Assess the stage of the research

 Sometimes exciting research can be decades away from impacting upon our lives. This doesn’t make it less exciting, but you should find out how close research is to having real-world applications. Is it a well-established field? Or a pioneering study?
Be accurate about the findings If something is not a cure, don’t report it as such. If a technological innovation hasn’t been tested in the real world, then don’t present it in this way.
Suggest headlines You might not have control over the headlines, but you can suggest some that accurately reflect the research.
Don’t extrapolate A journal article’s discussion section might speculate on where the work is heading. It’ll be tempting to get excited about this, but be clear about what is known and what is not.
仔细处理风险和不确定性 结果有多少确定性？与更广泛的证据相比如何？科学家对这些发现有什么确定的程度？
Present risk and uncertainty using manageable numbers (like one in 100) and everyday examples (for example, ‘‘as likely as being struck by lightning’’).
这些技巧中的一些是根据科学媒体中心的“10 best practice guidelines for reporting science & health stories’.

你可能还喜欢

Final Checklist:

Here is a synthesis of the advice so far. Use it as a quick checklist before submitting your story.
What was the primary finding?
Who was involved? Who does it affect? Where did it take place?
Why does it matter? Why now?
How was the research conducted? Was there anything special about this? Any limitations?
Where does this sit in the bigger picture?
Have you spoken to a good range of people about it (including non-experts)?
您是否超越了新闻稿并彻底询问了调查结果？
Have you tailored the story to your audience?
Have you considered angles that others may have missed?
Were there any conflicts of interest, for example in the way the work was funded?
Have you reported responsibly, giving an accurate depiction of the findings?
Where did you find your story? Include bibliographical details if possible.
Bernard Appiah is regional sub-editor for the Sub-Saharan Africa English edition. @bernappiah
Juan Casasbuenas is a former SciDev.Net training coordinator. @jdcasasbuenas

参考

Script/SciDev.Net Science Communication Skills for Journalists free online course
How to read and learn from scientific literature, even if you’re not an expert

Baidu