Checking information that claims to be based on science

Science Feedback is a publication verifying the credibility of influential information and media coverage that claims to be scientific in fields that are particularly prone to misunderstandings and misinformation such as climate change and health. It is operated by a not-for-profit organization.

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Our mission

Our first mission is to help create an Internet where users will have access to scientifically sound and trustworthy information. We also provide feedback to editors and journalists about the credibility of information published by their outlets.

Our mission is pedagogical: we strive to explain whether and why information is or is not consistent with the science. We are nonpartisan and apply the same methodology to claims made in a variety of media outlets, as well as exposing claims that either contradict or over-hype science. We believe it is scientists’ civic duty to better inform our fellow citizens in our area of expertise.


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Who we are

The Science Feedback association is a not-for-profit organization registered in France whose mission is defined in its status as to improve the credibility of science-related information online, in the media and on social media. The association notably acts through:

  • the organizing of scientists’ response to influential information by verifying facts and scientific theories,
  • the writing of pedagogical content and critical commentary of science media coverage,
  • the development of numerical services as well as contributions to raising awareness about misinformation to tackle its negative impacts on democratic societies.

Our reviews are written by editors who are scientists or science journalists and abide by strict editorial standards. Editors rely on the best available evidence, notably the peer-reviewed scientific literature and scientists who contribute to our analyses (reviewers). Reviewers are chosen for their domain expertise, notably verified by having recently published articles in top-tier peer-reviewed science journals, and are asked to conform to high quality community standards.


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What we do

We invite scientists with relevant expertise to comment on media articles that contain science-based information, adding contextual information and highlighting factual inaccuracies and faulty reasoning where they exist. Science Feedback editors provide a clearly stated summary of the scientists’ comments.

To complete the analysis, scientists evaluate articles and provide a credibility score based on accuracy, logic, objectivity, and factual precision—giving readers an overall guide to the scientific credibility of the article.

  • Learn more about our process and our guidelines to evaluate the scientific credibility of Climate or Health articles

Science Feedback editors provide a clearly stated summary of the scientists’ comments. We call these analyses “Scientific Feedbacks”. All Feedbacks are archived on our sites, creating a useful resource for anyone to easily compare and contrast the credibility of different news sources, and promoting the most reliable sources of information and insightful journalism.


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Beyond fact-checking

Science Feedback is paving the way for a new kind of fact-checking, crowdsourced directly from scientists with relevant expertise, providing in-depth analysis on a whole article, as well as “fact-checking” a number of claims at once.

Beyond checking the facts, special attention is given to checking the quality of the logic and reasoning to analyze and expose logical flaws and rhetorical manipulation.


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A trusted reference on information credibility

Climate Feedback and Health Feedback analyses have been featured in many respected news outlets.

Below is a list of just some of those who have relied on our analyses to ask for better standards of reporting:

Climate Nexus – Members of The UK House of Lords – The Niksanen Center – The Washington Post – and more.

Health Feedback is a member of the World Health Organization’s Vaccine Safety Net, a network of websites that provide reliable information on vaccine safety.

WHO Vaccine Safety Net member


support Science Feedback

Partners and Funders

Science Feedback is supported primarily by volunteers and individual donors.

We are working in partnership with other organizations and academic institutions:


Corrections

We aim for our reviews to be as accurate and up-to-date as possible. If we discover a mistake has been made, we will correct it as soon as possible and a note will be added on the original item. If you think we’ve made an error or missed some relevant information, contact us.

Privacy Policy

Science Feedback’s Privacy Policy informs users about the types of information that are collected and recorded and how the information is used. You can view our full statement here.

General Conditions of Use

Legal noticeMention Légales

Third-Party Disclaimer

Any links to third-party content contained in reviews by Science Feedback and any of its affiliated websites (Health Feedback and Climate Feedback) do not constitute an endorsement of these sites or their content by Science Feedback. Science Feedback does not control the content of these sites and therefore cannot be held responsible for any information users obtain from them.