About
Why START exists
START began from a plain observation: the distance between what research shows and what the public believes keeps growing, and almost no one is paid to close it.
The problem
Academic work is written for other academics — as it should be. But that leaves the public dependent on whoever translates it next, and the loudest translators are rarely the most faithful. Findings get flattened into headlines, stretched into claims they never made, or buried behind paywalls. The result is a public that is both drowning in "studies show" and starved of what studies actually show.
The approach
START pays attention to one thing: fidelity. We don't chase engagement, we don't manufacture controversy, and we don't let a brief go out until someone qualified has checked it against the source. The people doing the translating are the same people who do the research. That's the whole model, and we keep it deliberately unglamorous.
Principles
Five commitments we don't bend.
Fidelity over reach
A brief that's accurate and quiet beats one that's viral and wrong.
Sources, always
Every claim links to the research it came from. No exceptions.
Free for the public
Understanding research shouldn't depend on a subscription.
Vetted, not crowdsourced
Contributors are academics with standing in their field, not anonymous volunteers.
Open about uncertainty
When the science is unsettled, we say so plainly.