Research stories developed to share your research in a way that is understandable and interesting to a non-expert and public audience. Unlike a research report, a research story focuses on telling the narrative of your process, the significance of your research to others, and your personal engagement with your research.

A research story can describe completed research or research that is still in process. The overall structure of a research story is slightly different than a general research report. Scientific reports usually summarize a completed research project, which is why they emphasize the methods and results as separate sections. Instead, a story format emphasizes the introduction and discussion, where most of your story will take place.

Telling individual research stories portrays science as a human-driven endeavor, full of successes, uncertainties, missteps, and failures, which in turn promotes transparency. What really matters is what story is being told and by whom.