Community guides · Science
r/science commenting playbook for non-native English speakers
Most r/science threads expect contributors to behave like working scientists. Replies that read like undergrad essays don't land; replies that name confounders do.
What's hot in r/science now
What people are actually discussing
Top threads from the last month — what's getting engagement right now.
- Americans who leave their Christian faith behind tend to hold more liberal political views than those who were raised entirely without religion. This leftward ideological shift appears closely linked to how threatening these individuals perceive conservative Christian groups to be.
- City birds appear to be more afraid of women than men, and scientists have no idea why. Men could get about a meter closer to birds than women could before the animals flew away, regardless of what the men and women were wearing, what their height was or how they tried to approach the creatures.
- The largest US study, which tracked 11,036 children from ages 9 to 10 through to ages 16 and 17, discovered that cannabis use slows cognitive development, impairs memory, and reduces learning speed during crucial years of brain growth
What this sub rewards
How replies earn upvotes here
- Stay within peer-reviewed science; clearly mark anything speculative. If it's not in a peer-reviewed paper or major preprint, mark it as preliminary. Don't blur established vs emerging.
- Back specific claims with evidence — research, data, or named sources. Link the abstract or DOI. r/science readers will check.
- Acknowledge limitations, trade-offs, or uncertainty when relevant. Mention sample size, confounders, replication status. 'One study showed' is a setup, not a conclusion.
What good looks like
Real comments that landed in r/science
Two recent highly-upvoted replies. Notice what they have in common — concrete, no preamble, no self-promotion.
"This isn't surprising. Most liberals have no idea how insane evangelicals are. If you've been exposed directly you know how bad they are and that you should take them more seriously than they are taken."
"I love the random studies like this that gets published"
The one rule that gets posts removed
Posts must be peer-reviewed research; comments are held to similar standards.
Your pre-reply checklist
Before you hit Reply — four quick checks
Does my comment add something specific, not just an opinion?
A useful reply names a number, a method, a personal experience, or a concrete example. If you could replace your draft with "I agree" and lose nothing, rewrite.
Have I read the top 3 comments already on this thread?
If the highest-upvoted reply already says what you were about to say, your comment will sink. Add what's missing — counterexamples, edge cases, the next step — not what's there.
Would my reply still work if my username was removed?
If it only makes sense because it promotes you, your product, or your platform, this sub will spot it. Frame the value as "this solved it for me," not "check out my…"
Did I skim the sidebar rules one more time?
Every sub has at least one rule that surprises outsiders — peer-review only, no images, no specific tags, no off-topic. Five seconds in the sidebar can save you a removal.
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