Our Editorial Policy

At Innerbody Research, we feel that our mission of providing objective, science-based information and advice has never been more urgently needed than it is today. Consumer health options continue to evolve and multiply at a mind-boggling pace. When health information is sound and published with integrity, it's frequently opaque and hard to understand. And meanwhile, lurking within our information ecosystem is a growing body of misinformation and disinformation published by scheming and dishonest people whose only goal is to profit.

Our editorial process is built around a central promise to you, our readers. And that promise is simple.

We will always put you first. You are and will remain central to everything we do — your needs, your concerns, your pursuits and challenges.

This boils down to empathy, and that comes naturally to us; we see you and empathize with your pursuit of health goals, and quite often, we share the same goals ourselves. If our content in any way has failed you, then it has failed us also, not to mention our family and friends. We'll tell you the truth to the greatest extent that the truth is evident, and when the truth is hard to fathom, we'll make sure you understand that, too.

As writers, we may draw on experience in mental health therapy, clinical research, lab science, nutrition, or medicine, but fundamentally we're no different from you except in one important way: our job is to do thousands of hours of health and consumer product research and to try new products and services each week on your behalf, since your jobs and busy lives too often prevent that kind of time investment. And along the way, we seek the input of doctors, nutritionists, therapists, and other relevant experts about this research and information because we know from experience that it's altogether too difficult for any of us to access those experts in the rush of day-to-day life.

So, that's our promise to you: we'll put you first, always, keeping your concerns and interests front and center. But how does it shape our editorial process more precisely, you may wonder? Transparency is part of the equation, so in that spirit, here we'll describe how this central promise shapes everything we do.

As an editorial team, we are fiercely independent and impartial. We act on your behalf as objective critics of at-home health options. Our mission is to connect you with the tools and resources that will help you most. And you can trust us to remain objective and keep your interests at heart.

We have no interaction with businesses at all, except in a 'secret shopper' mode as our team members explore every possible facet of a company's products or services on your behalf. To safeguard the integrity and authenticity of those experiences, we maintain complete anonymity throughout; no company knows we are associated with Innerbody Research. (Otherwise, that knowledge could affect our experiences and delegitimize the information we share with you.)

While Innerbody Research may receive a commission based on actions you make through links on our pages, we as an editorial team do not solicit, nor do we accept, payment for articles or any recommendations that we make. We choose the products or services that we recommend to you — and under what circumstances we'd recommend them — at our sole discretion based on copious research and as much personal, hands-on testing experience as possible. We choose what we publish based on our perceptions of what you need most. We do nothing that could jeopardize or drive a wedge into the sole relationship that we focus on as an editorial team: our relationship with you.

Clarity

The most thorough and actionable consumer health information and guidance in the world (which we humbly suggest is our own) would not serve you very well if you couldn't understand it. We don't write articles that only those with very specific advanced degrees could comprehend. Instead, we'll explain jargon and demystify complicated scientific concepts; you shouldn't have to be a tech guru or a subscriber to The Journal of the American Medical Association to read and confidently act upon helpful information about telemedicine and at-home health options or products.

To ensure clarity, we rely on a proprietary style guide fashioned for clear and authoritative communication within this unique health-consumer space. Our style allows us to provide helpful articles that remain approachable and accessible without losing any of the important nuance that ought to exist when exploring matters of health. And we have a Review Board of experts to help us in that regard as well. (More on that esteemed group below.)

Context

As we write about health products and services — most of which you can access from home — we know that everything ultimately is a choice. Seldom, if ever, does a product or service exist as an entirely unique, solitary, one-of-a-kind prospect. It's all about choice, often within a very dense and confusing thicket of options. And this is our lane, our forte; as professionals, we live to help you understand those choices. We'll put each health product or service in useful context so that you can more easily understand how it compares favorably or unfavorably to the alternatives. Only then can you truly make solid, informed decisions.

Transparency

Why should you trust us? We'll tell you in every consumer health guide, so you can decide for yourself. We won't hide what we do or how we do it; we'll tell you all about it, and if anything, you'll see that we err on the side of over-sharing.

We'll explain, in detail, how we evaluated and determined your best options across any given health product or service landscape, so you won't have to do any guesswork. You'll know who wrote and expertly reviewed our articles; it says so on each article and on our About Us page. You'll know how we tested products and services and how much time we've dedicated toward diligent research.

And speaking of which, you'll be able to see where our information comes from, with clear and cited lists of credible, authoritative sources. We'll be transparent about whether clinical studies involved human or animal subjects and will explain why it matters. We take great care about how we present and characterize takeaways from the latest and most trustworthy scientific research; where there is a lack of clarity or consensus, we present that to you authentically and with appropriate caution. Where there may be conflicts of interest within a particular research study, we'll make sure you're aware of them.

Frequent updates

Keeping your needs central means that we make an ongoing, rather than sporadic, investment to ensure our consumer guides and product reviews remain thoroughly accurate and up-to-date. A stale, outdated health product review would not serve you well in this fast-moving, rapidly evolving world of at-home health options.

Aided by our writers, researchers, and review board, we continually monitor the latest developments in scientific research and significant changes among brands offering health products and services. As a result of this, we routinely revisit our published product reviews in order to make necessary revisions to ensure that the health-related information is fully up to date and reflects the latest insights from research. We conduct deep reassessments of the competitive landscapes among health brands on a yearly basis, at minimum, but quite often more frequently as meaningful changes demand.

If you ever notice that a page contains what seems like outdated or incorrect information, please let us know (editorial@innerbody.com); we will investigate and make any necessary corrections immediately.

As we maintain and revise our informative articles and develop new pages, your needs and concerns — which also evolve in a changing world — will continue to inform our editorial decisions.

Expertise

To ensure that our advice and information remain as helpful and accurate as possible, we rely on the oversight of a review board of health professionals with deep and diverse academic training and professional backgrounds — experts in mental health, primary care, nutrition, women's and men's health, geriatrics, and non-Western medical approaches like Ayurveda. We rely on these experts to review our articles so you can rest assured that all health-related information is accurate and expressed in ways that are consistent with the highest degrees of professionalism in healthcare.

Inclusivity

Part of empathizing with our audience is a commitment to avoid judgment or stigma. We take this very seriously and aim for inclusivity and a judgment-free approach broadly as it relates to the subject matter that we invest in exploring. Our commitment to avoiding judgment, stigma, or bias also granularly affects the style and language that we use. Our goal is to remain conscious of how our words reflect or, at times, fail to adequately embrace this spirit of inclusivity.