Interviewing Scientists

Getting Background

First, a journalist does advance reading, both of the science involved and of other journalists' accounts of the scientist and of his or her work.

One place to start is to go to the scientist's Web site, for often it summarizes the work a scientist is doing and who is funding the research, as well as providing a curriculum vitae (the extended resume used by academics) and other background information. A journalist can download from there or from the Internet any article he or she wishes to discuss. If journalist does not have time to read the work that is prompting the interview, he or she skims what he or she can, paying particular attention to titles, abstracts, conclusions, and any graphs and charts that condense the main points of the work. From the introduction and discussion sections of individual articles, the journalist gleans what he or she can of the scientific and social significance of the research. Journalists read the conclusions for significant caveats and calls for future studies. They consider any possible influences from funding sources and check the body of the text and the reference list for names of other scientists in field who might be able to comment on the findings. Finally, if a journalist gets stuck on unfamiliar terms or concepts, he or she looks them up in science dictionaries or encyclopedias.

Using LexisNexis or other online databases, a journalist can find any stories that other journalists may have written on the scientist and/or the specific research. Journalists skim for the names of additional scientists in the field, preferably experts without direct ties to their interview subject, again seeking those who could comment on the quality of the research or its scientific and social significance. Journalists also note how other journalists have handled difficult terms and concepts.

...