Global Health Otherwise shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Trust in science shapes whether people accept vaccines, follow climate advice, or believe medical guidance, making it a critical concern for public health and policy.
Coringrato and colleagues (2026) at RAND Europe, in a report commissioned by Wellcome Trust, reviewed evidence from Europe, the United States, and Canada to understand how much people trust scientists and what makes science trustworthy.
The review found that public trust in science remains moderate to high, though small pockets of distrust can disproportionately fuel misinformation and weaken policy support.
Trust varies by country, with Northern Europe and Anglophone nations showing higher levels, and by individual traits such as age, education, and political ideology, with conservative and populist worldviews predicting lower trust.
The authors identify five qualities:
– expertise, integrity, benevolence, transparency, and responsiveness – that build trustworthiness across individual scientists, institutions, and the wider scientific system, and recommend that scientists demonstrate integrity, communicate uncertainty clearly, and commit to genuine public dialogue.
Trust in science is not static; it is shaped continuously by social, political, cultural, and economic realities.
What builds trust in one context may erode it in another.
In an era of misinformation, polarization, and rapidly changing information environments, continuous monitoring, listening, and proactive engagement must become standard practice.
Trust should not be measured occasionally; it should be actively nurtured, protected, and earned every day.
Coringrato and colleagues (2026) found that public trust in science remains moderate to high overall, but pockets of distrust persist, underscoring the need for scientists to maintain integrity and transparency to sustain public confidence.
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