a division of Ad Fontes Media®
We Rate Scientific Information for Reliability and Relevance
Ad Fontes Science™ is building a new standard: a visual, two-dimensional rating system that helps researchers, institutions, journalists, and the public navigate scientific publications with confidence.
Scientific Information Has a Reliability Problem
Over the past two decades, the scientific literature has been systematically compromised, and existing metrics are no longer fit for purpose.
Predatory and "Gaslight" Journals
Pay-to-play and fraudulent journals flood the scientific record with unreliable content, crowding out legitimate work.
Normalized Retraction Events
Massive retractions — thousands of articles at a time — have become routine, eroding trust and confounding metrics across the scientific community.
Broken Quality Metrics
The Journal Impact Factor, attention metrics, and academic rankings have been gamed, hacked, or distorted by bots, AI slop, and bad actors.
The time for a more dependable approach is now.
Our Solution
Introducing the SIRC™
The Scientific Information Reliability Chart™ adapts the proven approach behind the Media Bias Chart® — a visual, two-dimensional, comparative rating system — for scientific publications.
Publications are scored on two axes: reliability (how well a journal vets its science claims) and relevance (how well it places findings in perspective). The result is an at-a-glance map of the scientific literature landscape.
Scores are produced by professional analysts through a rigorous, transparent methodology. These are the same principles that have made Ad Fontes Media ratings the basis for dozens of academic research studies.
Learn about the SIRC™
SIRC™ prototype — May 2026. Interactive version coming soon.
Who We Serve
Built for Every Stakeholder in the Science Ecosystem
Whether you publish, fund, read, cite, or advertise in scientific literature — the SIRC™ gives you the clarity you need.
Academic Institutions
"We don't have good information for collections management."
Clarity on quality, ownership, and portfolio variance for libraries and consortia.
Advertisers
"We might waste money on bad journals, or hurt our brand."
Improved brand safety and spending efficiency through reliable, independent quality signals.
Aggregators & AI Products
"We can't price to quality because we can't see it."
Superior, timely data to negotiate content licensing and build trustworthy AI training sets.
Authors & Researchers
"How do I pick the best journals?"
Insights on journal quality and relevance to make smarter, career-protecting submission decisions.
Journalists
"How do I know which studies are worth covering?"
Fast, independent signals on journal reliability to vet sources and report on science with confidence.
Practitioners
"What evidence is more reliable and relevant for my work?"
Independent reliability signals that help clinicians and other professionals weigh evidence before putting it into practice.
Science Funders
"Which publications should we support?"
Current, independent assessments of publication quality and brand safety for grant-making decisions.
Scientific Publishers
"I don't have a way to develop my portfolio for long-term success."
Differentiation tools and quality benchmarks to strengthen editorial strategy and demonstrate value.
Students
"How do I tell trustworthy research from the rest?"
A clear, visual guide built on criteria that improve information and research literacy.
Become an Analyst
We're building a team of professional analysts with backgrounds in evaluating and creating reliable scientific literature. Analysts work remotely and part-time, applying a structured, transparent methodology to rate scientific publications.
Learn more and applyOur Team
Ad Fontes Science™ brings together deep expertise in scholarly publishing, information reliability, and intellectual property law.
Kent Anderson
Managing Director
Former publisher at NEJM, Science, JBJS, and Pediatrics. Past-President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. Founder of The Scholarly Kitchen. Serial entrepreneur with a successful startup exit.
Joy Moore
Managing Director
Publishing and technology leader with experience at Nature Publishing Group, Blackwell, and Silverchair. Startup veteran with SEED Media Group. Deep expertise in science publishing operations and technology.
Vanessa Otero
Founder & CEO, Ad Fontes Media
Founder and CEO of Ad Fontes Media, creator of the Media Bias Chart®. Patent and trademark attorney. Pioneer in applying structured content analysis to information reliability at scale.
The Book
How the Internet Disrupted Science
Kent Anderson and Joy Moore, Managing Directors of Ad Fontes Science, are the authors of How the Internet Disrupted Science, published by Globe Pequot Publishing in August 2026. The book examines how academic incentives, technology-driven business models, and bad-faith actors have systematically destabilized the scientific claims landscape.
Their research forms a foundational part of the intellectual framework behind Ad Fontes Science™ and the SIRC™.
Learn more about the book
How the Internet Disrupted Science
Kent Anderson & Joy Moore
August 2026
Globe Pequot Publishing
Ready to Learn More?
Whether you're a publisher, funder, institution, or journalist — we'd love to hear from you.
Contact Us