Scientific American Bias and Reliability

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Compare the scores of Scientific American to other sources on our free Interactive Media Bias Chart®️. Click Here!

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Bias: Skews Left

Reliability: Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues

Overall Score

The following are the overall bias and reliability scores for Scientific American according to our Ad Fontes Media ratings methodology.

Bias: -10.43

Reliability: 34.62

Bias scores for articles and shows are on a scale of -42 to +42, with higher negative scores being more left, higher positive scores being more right, and scores closer to zero being minimally biased, equally balanced, or exhibiting a centrist bias.

Reliability scores for articles and shows are on a scale of 0-64. Scores above 36 are generally good; scores below 24 are generally problematic. Scores between 24-36 indicate a range of possibilities, with some sources falling there because they are heavy in opinion and/or analysis, and some because they have a high variation in reliability between content pieces.

Panels of analysts from Ad Fontes Media regularly review representative sample content to rate it for reliability and bias. Each panel of analysts comprises one left-leaning, one right-leaning, and one center-leaning analyst.

The team considers a variety of factors when rating content. To determine the bias score of a piece of content, we consider its language, its political position, and how it compares to other reporting from other sources on the same topic. We add each of these scores to the chart on a weighted scale, with the average of those creating the source’s overall bias score.

To determine its reliability score, we consider the content’s veracity, expression, its title/headline, and graphics. We add each of these scores to the chart on a weighted scale, with the average of those creating the source’s overall reliability score.

The bias rating, demonstrated on the horizontal axis of the Media Bias Chart®️, ranges from most extreme left to middle to most extreme right. The reliability rating, demonstrated on the chart’s vertical axis, rates sources on a scale from original fact reporting to analysis, opinion, selective/incomplete, misleading, and inaccurate/fabricated information.

Individual Content Sample Scores

These are the most recent content samples that Ad Fontes Media analysts have rated for this source.

Content Sample URL Bias Reliability
What Are AI Chatbot Companions Doing to Our Mental Health?0.050.33
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Called a Clean Energy ‘Nightmare Scenario’-7.3341.67
The Next Flu Pandemic Could Be Worse Than Covid If We Don't Heed History-2.3348.33
Has AI Already Brought Us the Terminator Future?-0.6741.33
2024 Is Officially the Hottest Year on Record-5.6743.67
Whales Are Dying but Not from Offshore Wind-9.3328.67
Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment-1915.0
What Humans Lose When AI Writes for Us0.046.0
Summers Are Hotter than Ever and Are Only Going to Get Worse-3.6744.67
Hawaii Has Permafrost, and Scientists Are Racing to Study It before It’s Gone-6.3342.67
More Frequent Dust Storms Could Be in Our Future-5.6741.0
Fascism’s History Offers Lessons about Today’s Attacks on Education-2120.67
Damar Hamlin’s Collapse Highlights the Violence Black Men Experience in Football-13.6721.0
Chemical Health Risks from the Ohio Train Accident—What We Know So Far-0.6745.0
Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect on Global Warming-3.6743.33
The Ethics of Sending Humans to Mars-10.6737.33
How Dangerous Is the Delta Variant, and Will It Cause a COVID Surge in the U.S.?-1.6742.0
Nutrition, the Immune System and a Global Pandemic0.049.0
Deleted Coronavirus Genome Sequences Trigger Scientific Intrigue0.048.0
The Animal Viruses Most Likely to Jump into Humans0.050.0
Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God0.039.67
The COVID Lab-Leak Hypothesis: What Scientists Do and Do Not Know0.044.33
New Radioactivity Measurement Could Boost Precision of Dark Matter Experiments0.040.67
Experts Weigh In on Pentagon UFO Report0.041.67
We’re Overlooking a Major Culprit in the Opioid Crisis0.037.0