Community Science Note Information and Process: Community Science Note Worksheet
Community Science Note writers must be in the process of obtaining or have already completed a PhD in STEM or a related field.
Community Science Notes should always contain a question and nonpartisan research information. Writers will not make policy recommendations or include information that explicitly supports or opposes a policy or alternative.
Community Science Notes are modeled after Legislative Science Notes produced by MOST Policy Initiative Legislative Policy Fellows and initiated by questions from the Missouri General Assembly.
Topics should have a connection to science, policy, and Missouri. For more detailed information on how to choose and refine a topic, refer to the Choose a topic and Refine the scope sections below.
Contact MOST Policy Initiative through the form on our website to indicate your interest in writing a Community Science Note.
You will receive a response with approval from our team and the opportunity to workshop your topic proposal and scope.
See Drafting a Community Science Note for steps on how to write and format your Science Note.
Submit your draft to your MOST Policy Initiative contact. The team will review your Note in a specified time frame and provide feedback.
If your Note is time sensitive (see: Other considerations) please indicate that to your MOST contact.
MOST provides feedback and comments as suggestions and comments in word documents. Each comment must be addressed to complete the review process.
MOST aims for only one round of review, however multiple rounds may be required if substantial edits are requested. This is not uncommon, as the Science Note writing style is very different from academic writing. However, to minimize the number of reviews needed, familiarize yourself with MOST’s writing and referencing style by reading Legislative Science Notes produced by Policy Fellows.
Once feedback is incorporated, send the Note back to MOST for final approval. MOST will then format the Note into our standard Science Note template, and publish on our website.
If your Note is time sensitive, please indicate that to your MOST contact upon resubmission.
Topics should have a clear connection to science and policy.
Choose a topic that is relevant to a community or the state as whole.
For examples of published Community Science Notes, visit the Community Science Notes page of the MOST Policy Initiative website.
For additional examples of published Science Notes, which are initiated by questions directly from the legislature, visit the Legislative Science Notes page. For examples of common question topic areas, refer to the MOST Policy Initiative website headers.
Public comment periods on executive agency rules. Prior to agency issuance of rules for the implementation of legislative policy, public comment periods allow collection of feedback from the public. Community Science Notes may be used as nonpartisan evidence in this policy discussion. Check Missouri state department websites for postings of public comment periods.
Board and commission meetings. Advisory councils, boards, and public commissions post meetings here. Information on the bodies, along with meeting times, contact information, and vacancies, can be found on the Missouri Boards and Commissions website. Some board and commission meetings allow for public comments, or for the public to submit documents or suggest policy. All boards list members, who may be contacted to discuss specific policies, or be referred to Community Science Notes.
Public hearings on state legislative bills. During the legislative session (January - May), the Missouri House and Senate hold public hearings on bills before they are passed. State law requires hearings information to be made public at least 24 hours before the hearing is held. Community Science Notes can be submitted as witness testimony or used as the basis for testimony. The House allows for testimony in absentia, while the Senate requires in-person testimony.
Legislative bill drafting. Prior to the legislative session (January - May), Missouri legislators draft bills that they plan to file. Pre-filing begins on December 1 each year. Before session begins in January, legislators are often open to input on bills they are planning to file, or open to topics for new legislation. Particularly if the Community Science Note comes from a constituent.
Science Notes are only two pages long, which significantly confines their scope. Legislative Policy Fellows are trained to refine and narrow the scope of the broad questions that may be posed by legislators.
For example, “How do we stop student athletes from dying suddenly from heart attacks?” might become “What are the impacts of emergency action plans on sudden cardiac death?” or “Why do different fire departments respond to neighbor’s fires?” becomes “How do fire districts impact services?”
For more, refer to Legislative Science Notes to get a sense of the types of questions answered by Science Notes.
Sources may include peer-reviewed research and review articles, data and reports from federal, state, and local agencies, and policy briefs from non-partisan research focused organizations.
Google Scholar and other academic search engines, typically accessed through a university, are good starting points. Use best judgement to select relevant papers that cover a broad range of information and are sufficiently rigorous in their methodology.
Cite review articles when they synthesize new information.
Do not use news articles as primary sources.
Where possible, identify research on economic, environmental, health, social, or other consequences of a policy or program. Look for impacts of the policy, and whether these are disproportionate for certain populations. Examine the cost of policy, the feasibility of implementation, and any unintended effects.
Community Science Notes may be shared with policymakers at all levels and with various backgrounds and roles in government. Readers should not need scientific expertise in order to understand the content. Science Notes are also used by community groups, executive agencies, and the general public. Typically, when communicating to the public, writers should aim for a seventh grade reading level.
As with scientific writing, good Science Notes vary sentence length and structure. However, sentences should tend to be short and simple. In addition to ease of reading, this will minimize editorializing.
Avoid repeating information and use simple language wherever possible. Define and dispense with jargon.
Read more about using active voice. Describe impacts in a “show not tell” style. For example “___ is a major problem, with ___ affected” can be changed to “____ affects ____ people.” Or “Several states use ___” is better than “Several states are currently using ___.”
Much of science writing editorializes results. In Science Notes, this can come across as bias. To avoid this, Science Notes typically do not use adverbs. Words such as “should” and phrases such as “will be necessary” are examples of editorializing language. “Importantly, notably, (un)fortunately, crucially,” and other words that imply value judgements and would require the author to explain why the result was important or notable should not be used. The goal of Science Note is to present the information, not draw the conclusion for the reader.
When presenting both (or multiple) sides of a policy, avoid discussing “critics” or “supporters.” Identify what would change, or what the outcomes are, and let your reader make a value judgement.
An example of an editorial phrase is “In order to prevent these tragic deaths, coaches and students can be trained in CPR so there are more opportunities for live saving intervention.” This can be changed to “CPR training for coaches and students decreases the number of deaths from sudden cardiac events by increasing the number of individuals who can administer the intervention.”
Science Notes are structured more like news pieces than like academic articles. Science Note audiences have limited time and often limited knowledge of the topic. To that end, each section should be focused in an “inverse pyramid” style.
Definitions should still be introduced first, but each paragraph should be treated as though the reader’s attention is strongest in the first few sentences, and wanes as they continue reading. The most important takeaways should be at the top of the paragraph, with additional information as the reader continues.
Three research highlights are required for each Science Note.
Readers have limited time and attention. They should be able to read the three research highlights and walk away with an understanding of the key takeaways of the Note.
Keep research highlights short and to the point. Sentence structures should be simple.
Science Notes are written in three sections for ease of reading. These sections often focus on 1) defining terms and the scope of an issue 2) identifying policies or outcomes and 3) a focus on the problem or outcomes in Missouri specifically, often with a comparison to other states.
As with the research highlights, treat section headers as standalone sentences. They should be short and to the point. If the reader only reads the section titles, they should understand the key takeaways of the Note.
Science Notes have space for one figure. Reference the figure in text as (Figure 1). Keep captions short, to the point, and standalone. If a reader only looks at the figure and reads the caption, they should be able to understand at least one of the key takeaways of the Note.
Figures can be created for the Science Note, or taken from sources using Fair Use Guidelines. Color palates can be created using coolors.co and maps can be created using mapchart.net.
First part of each Science Note. Come before the three sections. Three sentences on individual lines.
Bold titles of each section. Section titles should be standalone sentences and have periods.
A figure may be used from a source following Fair Use Guidelines.
Color palates can be created using coolors.co, which can check colorblind options.
Maps can be created using mapchart.net. Hex codes from coolors.co can be used with mapchart.
Figures must have visible, black axis lines and tick marks. Figures should not have borders. Figure text should be Arial.
A modified CSE format is used for references. Read more about CSE here.
Article Example
Butternut SL, Spaghetti MN (2022) Squash and other vegetables: A in-depth review. Really Cool Journal, 4(10): 45-51. URL
Government Report Example
Boring Agency Office (1995) How to Get More Cheese into the American Diet. Broader Government Office. URL
Interest Group Report
Quill PSL (1980) Reports of Alien Abductions Near Area 51. American Association of Abductees. URL
If no primary author
American Association of Abductees (1980) Reports of Alien Abductions Near Area 51. URL
Bills
Bill number, Number of legislative body, number of session. (AP style State abbrev. And year). URL.
Federal, State, or Local Code
Name of Act, Volume Code § section number (date).
If there is no popular name for an act, start with the volume code
When citing statute, should use “RSMo xxx.xxx”. Hyperlink to statute (including RSMo in the hyperlink).
Use “HB” and “SB” as abbreviations for House/Senate Bill, but sentences should not start with these abbreviations. Include a space between HB/SB and the bill number. Hyperlink to the bill on first usage.
Different authorships
If there are more than five authors, list the first five then et al.
Single author in-text citation: (Warner 2024)
Two author in-text citation: (Warner & Yu 2024)
3+ author in-text citation: (Warner et al. 2024)
Disclaimer
At the end of the article:
“This Community Science Note was prepared by [your name] in consultation with MOST Policy Initiative. For more information, contact [your name] at [your email].”
Word document
Length: No more than 5,000 characters or 2 pages.
Font: Arial, size 12.
Spacing: 1.15
Alignment: Left