Interviews with The Scientist

Before the interview: Reporters at The Scientist, which includes staff editors and freelancers, may reach out to you to request an interview for a story. Reporters and interviewees are required to comply with the following guidelines:

• We do not share exact interview questions prior to the call, but we will share the general topics that we’d like to cover in our initial media inquiry. 
• We do not allow email interviews without permission from the commissioning editor. 
• All interviews will be conducted in English unless there is a prior agreement with the commissioning editor. 
• Prior to agreeing to an interview, please disclose any conflicts of interest you may have in relation to the story the reporter is working on.
• The reporter will record the audio and/or video of the interview to ensure accuracy of quotes and information included in the story. 
• Your interviews may be transcribed with Otter.ai or Google Meets transcription software.
• We may want to use a video clip from your interview for social media promotion, but editors will ask for your explicit permission prior to or during the interview. We will not post any videos from the interview without your consent. 

During the interview: Once a reporter has contacted you and identified themselves as a reporter for The Scientist, all of your communication will be considered “on the record,” which means that it can be included in a story and attributed to you. If you wish for certain information to be “off the record”—meaning that it cannot be included in a published story or attributed to you—you must say that the information is off the record before disclosing it. If you wish to disclose information “on background,” which most often means that it’s okay for the reporter to publish the information but not attribute it to you by name, that must also be declared ahead of time.

After the interview: Being interviewed for a story does not guarantee you will be quoted in the story. We do not pay interviewees; this is a violation of journalistic ethics. In a similar vein, we do not allow interviewees to review their quotes or story drafts prior to publication. Reporters will reach out to verify facts and the accuracy of paraphrased quotes. Interviewees are not allowed to change their quotes.

Reporters will often ask for images that we can include in the story. Please ensure that you (and not a scientific journal, for example) own the copyright to any images you share with us. Unpublished scientific images or group pictures in the lab, for example, are good options to send us.

AI Policy

All editorial content in The Scientist is written by our editors, freelance reporters, and contributing writers. We do use generative AI tools in the following editorial processes:

• Research and background synthesis: Helping editors and writers survey a topic before drafting begins
• Interview transcription: Accelerating writers’ ability to write articles
• SEO and structural optimization: Improving discoverability while preserving editorial intent
• Copy editing and quality review: Assisting with grammar, clarity, and consistency checks
• Headline, dek, and social media post suggestions: Supporting efficient production workflows

If we use generative AI for purposes beyond those listed above, we will declare its use on the piece of content itself as follows: “This article was produced under The Scientist’s AI Editorial Policy.”

Similarly, any use of AI in image creation will be declared in the credit information of the image. In all cases, a human editor will always review every piece of content before publication. As generative AI is an evolving field, we will update this policy as necessary.

Corrections and Fact Checking Policy

Writers, editors, designers, and freelancers at The Scientist make every effort to get the facts behind every story right, every time. The articles we print are professionally edited. Nevertheless, mistakes do happen. In the event that we publish a story containing objective factual errors, we will correct it as soon as possible and post a dated correction, clarification, or editor’s note at the bottom of the article. If you detect an error in an article, please email Editor-in-Chief Meenakshi Prabhune at eic@the-scientist.com.

Syndication Guidelines

If you wish to republish an article from The Scientist, please email Editor-in-Chief Meenakshi Prabhune at eic@the-scientist.com.

Ownership/Funding Statement

The Scientist is a US-based publication for life-science professionals and the science-curious public that is dedicated to covering a wide range of biological fields. The Scientist is owned by LabX Media Group (LMG), a leading worldwide science publishing company that delivers meaningful industry content and integrated marketing solutions for the scientific community. LMG’s brands and product solutions deliver trusted, timely, and in-depth information across print and digital products to empower our customers and advance their research. LMG is headquartered in Midland, Ontario, Canada and employs more than 135 staff across Canada, the United States, and the UK.

Funding for The Scientist comes from the sale of advertising in our print magazine and on our website. Other revenue sources include custom publishing projects such as sponsored webinars, videos, infographics, posters, ebooks, and whitepapers, handled by our Creative Services Division.