Editorial & Fact-Checking Policy

1. YMYL & Clinical Evidence Hierarchy

Because health and wellness content directly impacts human well-being (categorized under Google's "Your Money or Your Life" standard), HealthKnobs requires the highest standard of factual corroboration:

• Gold Standard Primacy: Clinical claims must be grounded in systematic reviews, Cochrane analyses, or large randomized clinical trials.
• Primary Source Linking: We never link to second-hand blog summaries or aggregated news reports as medical proof. All links point to original peer-reviewed journal DOIs, PubMed identifiers, or government health registries (WHO, CDC, FDA, NHS).
• Distinguishing Correlation from Causation: Observational epidemiological studies are explicitly characterized as associations rather than causative outcomes.

2. Medical Board Review Protocol

Articles covering clinical conditions, pharmaceutical treatments, therapeutic diets, or metabolic interventions undergo review by our Medical Review Board. Reviewers verify:

• Clinical accuracy and consistency with current standards of care.
• Appropriate framing of risks, contraindications, and potential adverse interactions.
• Absence of unproven, sensationalist, or dangerous health claims.

3. Prohibited Claims & Health Misinformation

HealthKnobs strictly prohibits the publication of:

• Guaranteed cures for chronic, autoimmune, oncological, or degenerative diseases.
• Advice encouraging patients to cease prescribed medications without physician guidance.
• Detox or extreme restrictive protocols lacking clinical substantiation.

4. Conflicts of Interest & Independence

Our writers, editors, and clinical reviewers must disclose any commercial affiliations, consulting relationships, or financial interests in pharmaceutical, supplement, or medical device corporations. Reviewers with conflicts of interest are disqualified from evaluating related content.