Looking Back On Research The Headlines in 2014

Another year has gone by at Research the Headlines, and we’re going from strength to strength.  The Young Academy of Scotland took on a new cohort of members, and we’re delighted to have new contributors writing about topics like Islamic State, Ebola, Muslim integration in Britain, sex and language, milk, and whether C-sections increase the risk of autism (answer: no).

That doesn’t mean that the old guard took a back seat, however.  We wrote a ten part series on How To Research the Headlines, giving our readers tips on how to interpret news stories.

We asked whether e-cigarettes are safe, and what makes a good teacher.  Should you grow a beard? Is Facebook bad for self-image? Is there a blood test for Alzheimer’s? Our posts will help you answer those questions.

We even checked whether orangutans go through the menopause (short version: anecdotal evidence is no substitute for a proper study).

As always, sometimes the media does a great job of reporting research, even if the headlines can be misleading (see our Recipe for A Serial Killer? post).  And of course, sometimes the media distorts research findings in the pursuit of clickbait (breastfeeding seems to be a common target, see here and here).

Whatever the media writes about research, we’ll be reading and writing about it throughout 2015!