On Becoming a Boffinhack: The Research-Based Reporting (ReBaR) Framework for Concurrent Scientific and Journalistic Investigation

Scientific and journalistic investigations are complementary pursuits, involving a search for truth through the collection and analysis of evidence, good-faith endeavors of objectivity, and a commitment to transparency and reproducibility. Yet scientists do not often embrace journalistic methods of storytelling, and journalists rarely engage in scientific research. Described here through three recent experiences, the Research-based Reporting (ReBaR) framework for scientific storytelling is introduced as a model for concurrent journalistic and scientific investigation with publishing outcomes in peer-reviewed and lay press, and in which there are symbiotic benefits to both parts of the process.