Introducing three new labels on Scimex health stories

Several improvements were rolled out on Scimex in 2020.

New labels

We have introduced a new labelling system on Scimex that applies to health stories, helping journalists to see at a glance the nature and significance of new research.

Journalists often don’t have the time or expertise to assess the credibility of research and these labels are designed to make it as easy as possible for them to report research more accurately. The labels have been adopted by some of the world's leading scientific journals such as PLOS, BMJ and The Lancet and we have adapted ours from those developed by the UK Science Media Centre and the UKs’ Academy of Medical Sciences to try and improve public trust in medical research.

The three new fields for health stories on Scimex are:

• Was the research peer-reviewed?
• What type of evidence was involved?
• What was the subject of the study?

For uploaders, the three fields will only be visible on the story builder if the 'health/medical' topic is selected. See matrix below.

News stories featuring these new labels will include a full explanation for each label selected as per the example shown below.

The new labelling system was created by the Australian Science Media Centre with support from the Science Media Centre of New Zealand based on an original project by the UK Science Media Centre.

Improved Story Uploader

While adding the new labels, we have taken the opportunity to give the story uploader a new look and feel. The revised wizard includes:

• More intuitive order of fields and dropdowns
• Autofill option for media contact details

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