Standards and Ethics

Our Mission

Scientific American covers the most important and exciting research and ideas in science, health, technology and society. It is committed to sharing trustworthy information, enhancing our understanding of the world, and advancing science and promoting its applications.

Ethics and Transparency

The publication holds ethics and transparency as key values both in what we publish and in what we do in the workplace. Only with honest and fair reporting can we deliver trustworthy content to our readers. To support our commitment to these values, our team:

Practices independence. Excellent journalism requires independence. Scientific American staff avoid or mitigate conflicts of interest. Conflicts are situations in which journalists’ financial interests or personal relationships could compromise their objectivity. When editors detect any potential conflict of interest related to sources or writers, they report it to their manager, who decides whether to involve the editor in chief. If there is an actual conflict of interest, editors will mitigate the conflict by either insulating the compromised person from the story or withdrawing the story from our publication pipeline.

Scientific American reporters and editors don’t accept gifts (financial or otherwise) or any kind of monetary compensation from organizations that the publication covers.

Avoids political conflicts. Scientific American staff have a duty to avoid activities that might reasonably raise doubts about our editorial independence. They should not campaign for or endorse candidates, causes or legislation; display insignia of partisan politics; give or solicit money for political candidates or causes; or run for public office. They should avoid demonstrating in support of electoral, political or other public issues that might figure in Scientific American coverage. Staff members may not serve on trustee boards, advisory committees or similar groups for organizations that seek to shape public policy.

Staff should take care when engaging in discourse over highly politicized topics in public forums. And they should be mindful of how they might inadvertently call the publication’s fairness and independence into question.

Promotes fairness. The Scientific American editorial team treats our sources and readers with respect and decency. To this end, editors and reporters give individuals, companies and organizations mentioned in a story a chance to respond to any relevant criticism. We strive to not talk down to readers, to show no favoritism and to communicate with respect. We do not offer “equal time” for views that are not backed by overwhelming scientific consensus. Our opinions, and those of our contributors, are clearly labeled.

Ensures accuracy and accountability. Scientific American is committed to accuracy. Authors and editors are responsible for the veracity of their information, and all original and translated articles, infographics, podcasts and videos that are published on our website and in print undergo a fact-checking process.

In online and magazine content, this process involves checking basic areas that include names, affiliations and other publicly available details about people; scientific nomenclature and definitions; secondary quotes; pertinent information within direct interview quotes; newsworthy or historical information; geographical information; broad statistics; and basic study findings. The fact-checker consults backup material provided by the editor and any other relevant sources they can find within our deadlines. In print, revisions are reviewed for accuracy throughout the final stages of the editorial process. Features written by journalists undergo a longer verification process in which the fact-checker consults with interview sources and checks more advanced areas of information.

Scientific American reporters and editors do not send complete drafts to sources for review. Our staff will sometimes provide a source with relevant sections of the article or that source’s quotes to review for accuracy purposes only. They should not change any quotes.

In instances of urgency, online articles may be posted before fact-checking has been completed. In such cases, the article is retroactively checked and any needed revisions for accuracy are made as soon as possible.

Reporters and editors at Scientific American should not grant anonymity to a source without discussing it with their editor and/or a higher editor.

No author may fabricate or plagiarize. When an error is identified in content published on our website, we correct it and acknowledge the revision in an Editor’s note. Errors in print are addressed in Errata or Clarifications in our Letters column. And errors in online PDFs of our print issues are addressed in an Errata page. Minor spelling or typographical errors do not require formal corrections unless they involve the name of a person, an institution or another substantive fact. We also don’t substantively alter any image or video in a way that would change the truth of that material.

Avoids conflicts of interest regarding travel and speaking engagements. In most circumstances, staff members do not accept external reimbursement for lodging, food or travel. With prior approval from a manager, however, a staff member or freelancer working on a story for Scientific American may accept such funds from an independent organization, such as the Pulitzer Center or the Freedom of the Press Foundation, among others. In addition, when a research site or interviewee is uniquely hard to reach, such as one in Antarctica, reporters can accept travel, including transportation, provided by institutions such as the National Science Foundation. For all these instances, the published material will note the support.

Staff members are often experts in their beats and as such are frequently invited to speak or participate in events. With supervisor approval, staff can accept support for travel and expenses to attend and participate in these events. The supervisor will evaluate the event for any conflict of interest, and if one is found, the financial support will be turned down.

Includes a variety of voices. Our staff believes that only with a variety of perspectives can we present an accurate and thorough look at scientific issues and discoveries. To this end, our editors reach out to researchers and other sources from as many groups as possible, including those of underrepresented backgrounds and communities.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

We believe that science and technology, used properly, can improve lives and solve problems. We’re excited about AI and interested in ways that it can help us do our jobs. But we also believe in human ingenuity and creativity, and we’re disturbed by attempts to use AI to replace human workers or produce cheap, low-quality content. Our articles, artwork, videos and podcasts are made by people. We will not use technology to mislead our audience or replace writers, editors, artists and producers.

Scientific American abides by the AI policies put forth by our parent company, Springer Nature, and the following overarching principles that follow human-centered values in our approach to the responsible use of AI:

Human oversight and accuracy: Our editorial staff will have oversight and control of any uses of AI; we are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all that we publish.

Transparency: We will disclose and explain our use of AI in accessible language where appropriate.

Fairness and equity: We prioritize human well-being and will take actions to prevent any AI use that could further structural bias and inequities or otherwise harm society.

Privacy and security: With any use of AI tools, we will safeguard personal privacy and abide by relevant data protection laws.

Our specific rules regarding the use of AI in our journalism are as follows:

Generative-AI-produced writing and images: We do not use generative AI to produce content unless there is a clear editorial reason for its use (for instance, in an article about generative AI). In those rare instances any AI-produced content must be clearly labeled.

If our editors learn that we unintentionally published AI-generated content that we believed was created by humans, we will disclose the error to our audience and remove the content if feasible.

AI-assisted reporting: We may use AI to assist in research, idea generation, transcription and production. Any substantive use of generative artificial intelligence beyond the above will also be prominently disclosed to the reader.

AI tools for recommendations and promotion: We may use AI engines to recommend articles and multimedia to our users, or to create brief summaries of human-written text.

AI-assisted translations and audio: Our editors may use artificial intelligence to translate articles into English, or to create automated audio versions of articles.

Freelancers and contractors are expected to follow all rules and principles set forth by Scientific American. That means we don’t accept AI-generated story pitches or drafts. If we find that a freelancer has violated these rules, we will take appropriate action, up to and including retracting their work.

Scientific American follows developments in artificial intelligence and will continue to update our policies regarding its use.

Social Media Policy

Our social media accounts are extensions of our newsroom, where we share breaking news, stories and insights to inform and engage with our audience. We encourage open and respectful dialogue in the comments sections of our posts, with the following expectations:

Comments should remain civil and relevant to the topic.

We do not tolerate hate speech, personal attacks, harassment, spam or misinformation.

Comments violating these standards may be removed, and offenders may be blocked.

Our editorial staff adhere to company guidelines to ensure their personal social media activity aligns with our commitment to accuracy, fairness and impartiality. Social media posts on staff accounts do not represent the views of Scientific American or its parent company, Springer Nature.

Last updated April 8, 2026.