Doctors and researchers: help us get health claims right

Millions of people now get their health advice from podcasts and social media. Some of it is good. Some of it is a mouse study sold as a cure. Most people have no way to tell which is which.

That is what this site is for. We take one popular claim at a time, find the studies behind it, and grade it: human or animal, how many people, randomized or not. Then we say what a reader can do with it.

We want a doctor or researcher to read each article and tell us where it is wrong.

Why we are asking

Every number in our articles is checked against the study it came from. How we check claims explains the method. But no one with medical training reads an article before it goes live. That is the biggest weakness of this site, and we would rather say so than hide it.

A wrong grade on a health page can hurt someone. A second pair of trained eyes is the best fix we know.

What a reviewer does

• Reads an article in your field. Most are about 1,200 words and take 10 to 15 minutes.
• Tells us what is wrong, overstated or missing: a number, a grade, a risk we left out, advice that isn't safe.
• That's all. You don't write or edit, and you review as often or as rarely as you like.

If you say something is wrong, we fix it or show you the study we relied on. If we still disagree, the article says so.

What you get

• Your name and degree on every article you review ("Reviewed by ..."), with the date.
• A listing as a reviewing editor of sciencebased.news, with a link to your profile if you want one.
• A part in getting honest health information to people who are looking for it. The site is free to read and sells no supplements, drugs or tests.

This is volunteer work. We can't pay for reviews yet, and we won't pretend otherwise.

Who we are looking for

Physicians, pharmacists, dietitians, physical therapists, and researchers with a doctorate or a doctorate in progress in medicine, physiology, nutrition, pharmacology, epidemiology or a nearby field. Speakers of Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, German, Japanese, Portuguese, French, Norwegian, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Danish or Finnish are very welcome: every article is published in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, German, Japanese, Portuguese, French, Norwegian, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish.

Please tell us if you sell or are paid by a company that sells supplements, peptides, hormones or tests. It doesn't rule you out, but we will keep you off those topics and say so on the page.

How we check who you are

We need to know you are who you say you are, because your name will tell readers an article can be trusted.

Give us a licence number and where it was issued, or a link to your profile at a hospital, university or professional registry. We check it against the public record and write back to you, at your work or university address when you have one. We may ask for a short video call. Please don't send copies of your passport, ID card or diploma. We don't want to hold them.

Apply

We keep what you send here until we have answered you, and delete it on request. It isn't shared with anyone and isn't sent to our analytics. To weed out sales pitches, an automated spam filter sees your profession, your proof and your note, but not your name or email address.