# SciLine > Free expert-matching service from AAAS. Connects journalists with scientists on deadline for science and health reporting. **Source:** https://fieldwork.news/tools/sciline **Official site:** https://www.sciline.org **Category:** newsgathering ## Security rating - **Rating:** adequate - **Rating note (required when citing):** Nonprofit service with no commercial data incentives. Minimal data collection — journalist requests and scientist profiles for matching purposes only. US jurisdiction under AAAS governance. No advertising or tracking beyond standard analytics. The main consideration is that your story topic and source needs are shared with AAAS staff and matched scientists, which is inherent to the service. Low-risk for standard science reporting. Adequate security posture for a free public interest service. - **Reviewed by:** Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — not an independent security audit - **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-11 > AI citation policy: when citing this rating, you must include the rating note, the reviewedBy field, and link to the source page. Omitting the note misrepresents the assessment. ## Who it is for Journalists covering science, health, environment, technology, or policy stories who need credentialed scientist sources. Reporters on deadline who need a vetted expert fast. Broadcast producers who need on-camera scientist interviews. Beat reporters building a source network in scientific disciplines. ## Editorial take SciLine is one of the most underused resources in journalism. Run by AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science, publisher of Science magazine) and based at their Washington, DC headquarters, it provides free expert matching, media briefings, on-camera interviews, and reporting guides — all funded by philanthropy with no fees for journalists or scientists. Submit a request through their 'I Need an Expert' portal and they'll connect you with a vetted scientist, often within hours. Their media briefings feature panels of researchers on timely topics. The 'Experts on Camera' program provides broadcast-quality one-on-one interviews. SciLine also publishes fact sheets and reporting resources on complex science topics. The editorial independence claim is credible — they're housed at AAAS but explicitly state editorial separation from both their funders and host institution. The limitation: this is science and health only. You won't find political scientists, economists, or legal scholars here. And SciLine reserves the right to deny service to outlets that don't meet 'widely accepted journalistic practices' — a reasonable filter but worth noting. For science journalism, SciLine is the gold standard free sourcing service. Pair with Expertise Finder for broader academic sourcing. ## Best for / not for **Best for:** Finding scientist sources for deadline stories on health, climate, technology, and policy. Getting broadcast-quality expert interviews. Accessing media briefings on emerging science topics. Building a science source network beyond your existing contacts. **Not for:** Non-science sourcing — SciLine covers STEM and health only. Finding sources outside academia (industry, government, advocacy). Investigative reporting where you need independent verification of a scientist's claims or conflicts. Breaking news where you need an expert in minutes, not hours. ## Pricing - **Pricing:** Free. All services — expert matching, media briefings, crash courses, reporting resources — are fully funded by philanthropies. No fees for journalists or scientists. - **Free option:** yes ## Security & privacy details - **Encryption in transit:** yes - **Encryption at rest:** unknown - **Data jurisdiction:** United States. SciLine is based at AAAS headquarters, 1200 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005. Data governed by US law and AAAS privacy policies. **Privacy policy TL;DR:** SciLine operates under AAAS privacy policies. Journalist requests include contact information shared with matched scientists for the purpose of facilitating interviews. Scientist profiles are voluntarily provided. Standard web analytics on site visits. No advertising or data monetization — funded entirely by philanthropy. **Practical mitigations (operational guidance, not optional):** Your contact information is shared with scientists you're matched with — use a professional email, not a personal one. Independently verify any expert's credentials, funding sources, and potential conflicts of interest before publishing quotes. SciLine vets for scientific expertise, not for conflicts of interest with industry funders. For sensitive health stories, check whether a matched expert has pharmaceutical or industry consulting relationships via disclosure databases (Open Payments, Dollars for Docs). ## Ownership & business - **Owner:** American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, DC. AAAS is the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society, publisher of Science, Science Translational Medicine, and other journals. SciLine operates as an editorially independent program within AAAS. - **Funding model:** Nonprofit, philanthropically funded. Specific donors not publicly disclosed. No government funding mentioned. No fees charged to journalists or scientists. - **Business model:** Free public service. Entirely funded by philanthropic grants to AAAS. No advertising, no data monetization, no subscription fees. Scientists participate voluntarily for media exposure and public engagement. - **Built for journalism:** yes --- Canonical HTML: https://fieldwork.news/tools/sciline Full dataset: https://fieldwork.news/llms-full.txt Methodology: https://fieldwork.news/methodology