3 steps to determine whether a medical study is newsworthy
With the amount of research published on a daily basis, journalists have to work to discern what’s worth covering. Here’s a general guide.
Know Your Research
Tip sheets and explainers to help journalists understand academic research methods, find and recognize high-quality research, and avoid missteps when reporting on new studies and public opinion polls
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Covering political polls: A cautionary research roundup
Journalist’s Resource rounds up some of the latest political polling research as Joe Biden jumps into the 2020 presidential race.
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Covering viral research: Tips from Harvard’s ‘6 french fries’ guy
Eric Rimm reflects on his viral comments about French fries, offering pointers for how to cover research that’s getting a lot of media attention.
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The margin of error: 7 tips for journalists covering polls and surveys
To help journalists understand margin of error and how to correctly interpret data from surveys and polls, we’ve put together a list of seven tips, including clarifying examples.
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7 ways journalists can access academic research for free
A lot of academic research exists behind paywalls. We outline seven ways reporters can get free access to high-quality scholarship.
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Covering health research? Choose your studies (and words) wisely
Many of the most popular news stories about health research include overstated findings or substantial inaccuracies, suggests a new study.
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11 questions journalists should ask about public opinion polls
Our new tip sheet outlines 11 questions journalists should ask to help them decide how to frame the findings of a public opinion poll — or cover them at all.
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White papers, working papers, research articles: What’s the difference?
Journalists rely on three types of research papers most often in their work: White papers, working papers and peer-reviewed journal articles. We explain each, pointing out its strengths and weaknesses.
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When research findings don’t agree
Dr. Lauren Wallner shares advice on how journalists might reconcile different research findings and how best to conceptualize the growing field of disparities research.
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4 tips for understanding statistics from FiveThirtyEight’s Christie Aschwanden
Tips for numbers-shy journalists on understanding and writing about statistics.
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