Job opening: Part-time Science Editor

Science Feedback is looking for a part-time science editor to work on writing and organizing reviews of influential claims and articles on climate change and related topics in collaboration with scientists and academics. We are looking for a thoughtful, methodical, and rigorous candidate with a deep commitment to scientific objectivity and high ethical standards.

The organization
Science Feedback is a non-profit organization with a mission to improve the credibility of information available to Internet users in scientific domains by providing feedback to readers, journalists, editors, and tech platforms. Science Feedback operates two primary content platforms: Climate Feedback and Health Feedback.

Climate Feedback has been organizing a global network of scientists since 2015 to review influential climate change media coverage, developing a new approach to “fact-checking” that is crowdsourced directly from domain experts. Science Feedback also recently launched Health Feedback to extend this approach to the field of health sciences, and our plan is to expand into other scientific fields that are prone to misunderstanding and disinformation as well (e.g. ecology, energy, astronomy…).

Science Feedback is a signatory of the IFCN code of principles—affirming our commitment to accuracy, fairness, and transparency—and you will need to help us uphold these high standards. Our reviews are trusted for their rigor and are used by Facebook to inform users who have interacted with posts containing false information. We provide a powerful way for scientists to contribute to fighting the rise of misinformation for a more trustworthy Internet.

Job responsibilities include:

  • Write weekly reviews of articles and claims based on contributions from our network of scientists. This includes watching for trending news articles and social media posts, writing the content of claim reviews or summarizing article reviews written by scientists, as well as editing and reinforcing scientist contributions (e.g., copy-editing, adding figures, links to references…);
  • Grow our network of contributing scientists by inviting new experts to contribute to reviews;
  • Write “Insights” articles explaining, for example, the current state of knowledge on specific scientific questions or how false claims propagate online;
  • Write content to promote our reviews and results on social media.

Skills required:

  • Excellent knowledge about how science works, the scientific method to (in)validate hypotheses;
  • Excellent understanding of the scientific publication process: you will need to be able to identify academics’ expertise based on the quality of their scientific publications, and also detect potential conflicts of interest;
  • Good knowledge and understanding of scientific domains related to climate change;
  • Ability to explain scientific results and processes in terms understandable to a broad audience;
  • Excellent writing and editing skills (perfect mastery of English, native speakers preferred, professional fluency in other languages appreciated);
  • Ability to publish in WordPress;
  • Be passionate about scientific integrity and willing to debunk misinformation wherever it comes from;
  • Non-partisanship: Our staff and freelance contributors are required to not be involved in advocacy/political campaigning.

Experience needed

  • Experience working with scientists needed,
  • Experience working as a fact-checker a plus,
  • Candidates with a scientific background (PhD or Master of Science) or a science journalism background are both encouraged to apply.

Position

  • Part-time (~15-25h/week).
  • Work location can be our Paris office or remote.
  • Compensation based on experience.

 

To apply, please send a cover letter highlighting relevant experience and motivation for the position, a resume, and 2 relevant writing samples by Dec. 15, 2019.

→   Email [email protected]

 

(If you’d like to work as a part-time freelance editor in another field than climate, let us know.)