ScienceWriters magazine

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ScienceWriters, Summer 2016

Background on the proposed amendment to the NASW constitution to change the qualifications for officers; creating science animations; analyzing the new GMO report; an unintended side effect of transparency; EurekAlert's 20th birthday; a new First Amendment center for the digital age; a preview of ScienceWriters 2016; candidate statements for the NASW Board; and tax planning for writers. Full text visible to NASW members only.

If you were hanging around the Twittersphere in February, you may have caught glimpse of the excitement generated by the return of the Knight Science Journalism Tracker: the MIT-based blog for evaluating and critiquing science journalism, which went on hiatus in 2014. The Tracker has a new home as a monthly column in a much broader, more ambitious digital publication that KSJ’s new director, Deb Blum, and editor Tom Zeller Jr., have given the evocative title Undark.

Usually, there is only one way for writers and other self-employed persons to write off medical and health expenses: They have to claim those outlays as itemized deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040. That is just the first obstacle. There is another barrier for itemizers. Their medical expenditures are not fully deductible. They are allowed to claim such expenses just to the extent that they exceed 10 percent of AGI (short for adjusted gross income), the figure on the last line of page one of the 1040 form.

We’ve heard a lot about self-publishing new books. But what about self-republishing out-of-print books? Having some time and some available books, Jeff Hecht tested the process, and came to the conclusion it can work, but not for all books, and not in the formats used by e-book readers unless you have a clean digital copy. This article shares what he's learned the hard way to save you time and trouble.

ScienceWriters, Spring 2016

Building a public radio science desk, the debut of Undark, a preview of ScienceWriters2016, results of NASW's spending priorities survey, tax write-offs for medical insurance, plus the usual departments, book reviews, and news about NASW members. Full text visible to NASW members only.

Most American science journalists and others who help in shuttling information and analysis from the realm of science to the public in plain English surely have heard at least vaguely about something called the World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ). It is coming soon to the USA for the first time. In less than two years, our kind will be in downtown San Francisco for a self-improvement confab among a global bevy of science journalists and their like. Key activities include workshops, mad gossip in the hallways, tours, and lectures from experts on hot science on the horizon.