Editorial Guidelines
Our goal is to be the premier online resource for research-based health information.
Unbiased, Always
Illuminate Labs selects products to review based on consumer interest and requests. We don't engage in sponsored reviews, which is where a brand pays a publisher for a review. This allows our reporting to remain unbiased and focused on the facts.
We only recommend products if there is published medical research backing the efficacy of their formulation, and no toxic or sensitizing additive ingredients which pose a risk to human health.
Credentialed Medical Experts Behind All Content
All content we publish is written or reviewed by credentialed medical experts. Our Team members consist of doctors and PhDs who leverage their decades of training and experience to provide you with the most accurate health information.
Sources From Medical Research
Wherever possible, we cite clinical trials published in established medical journals in our articles to back up our position. Especially when evaluating health claims or formulation safety, our goal is to only provide definitive recommendations one way or another when there is medical data to back it up.
Preferential Linking To Free Versions Of Citations
We believe that published medical research should be free to access, and we recognize that most consumers don't have the disposable income or interest to purchase access to a medical journal.
That's why, whenever possible, we link to the free version of a medical source that we cite in our articles. If the same research exists in a free article in one journal and a paid article in another journal, we will always preferentially link to the free version.
Content Continually Refreshed
We aim to revise all content published previously to ensure it's still up-to-date and medically accurate. If any new information or research emerges about a topic we reviewed, we will update the article with the relevant new information.
Our editorial process involves reviewing all articles which were published a year or more in the past, and updating them to reflect any new information.
How We Qualify Trusted Sources
We categorize external links from our website to other sites in two ways: "Trusted Sources" and regular links.
Trusted Sources are visually represented with a lighter hyperlink color and a checkmark icon. We break down Trusted Sources into four categories:
1) Medical Journal -- Scientific research published in a medical journal is the gold standard for research on health topics. We typically quote from medical journals with a peer-review process which reduces the bias of the data.
2) Educational Institution -- Many educational institutions like Harvard Medical School directly publish their own medical research, and this category of research is typically non-sponsored and thorough.
3) Government Research -- Governments often fund and publish independent research to advance basic science. This type of research is typically more general than that published by medical journals or educational institutions.
As an example, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishes data on the nutrient levels of various foods and food products which we've quoted in several articles.
4) Independent Research Organization -- There exist organizations that conduct research on health topics, which are typically non-profit. John Hopkins Medicine is an example of this type of research which we've quoted before.
Display Ads Policy
Illuminate Labs does not necessarily endorse any of the companies advertising on our site. To eliminate any potential bias, we partnered with one of the largest ad placement firms in the U.S. that handles automated bidding for ads on Illuminate Health and our articles. This method ensures we're unaware of which brands are advertising on our site, which removes any potential bias. It also automates the ad process and allows us to spend our time researching and writing articles, instead of negotiating with companies looking to advertise on our site.
Monetizing our content with ads allows us to continue to fund the research that goes into Illuminate Health articles. We own valuable digital real estate, and allow companies to advertise on it, but we don't have agreements with these companies nor do we necessarily recommend their products or services.
Blog Article Tagging Policy
On the Read Next feature of our blog, we add descriptive article tags to the suggested articles for user convenience and context. These tags occasionally reference health conditions such as diabetes and medical phrases such as "blood pressure reduction."
These tags are not health claims and do not suggest that the subject of the review is effective for treating those health claims. Rather, these tags describe the general topic and the health claims made by the article subject.
As an example, a dietary supplement which purports to reduce cholesterol may be tagged with a "cholesterol reduction" tag. This does not suggest that this product does effectively reduce cholesterol; it just means that the brand or product being reviewed claims it does.
