How we decide what to publish
Seven principles that every piece has to meet.
1. The sourcing ladder
Strictest first: systematic reviews and meta-analyses, then randomised controlled trials, then large prospective cohorts. A single small study, a conference abstract, a preprint or an animal study may be mentioned inside a piece and clearly labelled, but it never headlines one.
2. The paper, not the coverage
A press release is never a source. A news article about a study is never a source. We open the paper, and every piece names it and links to it. If we cannot reach the paper, the piece does not run.
3. Findings, never advice
We report what a study found. We never tell you what to do: no dosing, no protocols, no personalised guidance, no diagnosis. Every article page carries the standing disclaimer, and it means it.
4. The shape of the evidence, in the open
Each piece states its study design and how many people it followed, at the top of the page. The reader should be able to weigh a claim before reading the argument for it.
5. Numbers over adjectives
Every figure carries its baseline, its effect size and its comparison group. A verified number with a baseline does the work better than any superlative, and "significant" is a statistical word, not an enthusiastic one.
6. The caveat is mandatory
Every piece says what the study does not establish: the confounders, the follow-up length, the population it did not cover. A useful finding with its limits stated is more credible, not less.
7. Corrections in public
When we get something wrong we fix it openly, quickly and with a date on it. See our corrections policy, and how we use AI: machines help gather and sort, a named human checks every claim against the paper and approves every published word.