Introduction
Nature Of EBSCO Publishing Content
Citation and Authoring
Advertising and Sponsorship
Conflict of Interest
Content Links
Claims of Therapeutic Benefit
Self-Assessment Tools

Introduction

EBSCO Publishing is a leader in publishing health and medical information on the Internet. While we make every effort to ensure that our content is based on scientific evidence and reflects current standards of care, the information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for the clinical services provided by physicians and other health professionals. The purpose of our content is only to provide users with health information and access to related resources. Always seek the advice of your health care provider before arriving at a diagnosis or embarking on a course of treatment.

Nature Of EBSCO Publishing Content

EBSCO Publishing provides two main sources of content: proprietary and licensed.

Proprietary Content

To the extent possible, EBSCO Publishing's proprietary health information: 1) is evidence-based, 2) reflects national clinical practice guidelines, 3) is free of racial, gender, or other bias, and 4) undergoes a rigorous, multilayered review before it reaches customers. Proprietary content is developed using a number of medical sources:

  • Newswire reports
  • Professional journals
  • Government health agencies
  • Academic departments
  • National healthcare associations

All of EBSCO Publishing's proprietary content is written by either an in-house writer/editor or contract writer. All in-house staff writers have advanced degrees in public health, health communication, or related fields and are under the supervision of a medical director, who is a licensed physician. Contract writers are either health care professionals with experience writing for a consumer audience, or they are writers holding advanced degrees in health journalism, public health, or related fields.

Proprietary content is reviewed by a member of the EBSCO Publishing Medical Review Board (MRB). The EBSCO Publishing Medical Review Board is comprised of physicians with expertise in a wide range of areas, including oncology, psychiatry, neurology, pediatrics, internal medicine, orthopedics, geriatrics, cardiology, family practice, genetics, and infectious disease. They are physician experts in their respective fields, and have affiliations with some of the finest medical and research institutions in the world. EBSCO Publishing will not ask MRB members to review content that is outside their area of expertise. Information regarding the EBSCO Publishing MRB is available at http://www.epnet.com/biomedical/medical_review_board.asp.

All Medical Review Board members are required to submit evidence of professional credentialing and licensure to EBSCO Publishing. No member is placed in the position of providing clinical services.

EBSCO Publishing will not, under any circumstances, edit an expert's work in a manner that causally changes its original meaning, nor will we ask experts to provide advice or information that is outside their area of expertise.

Proprietary content is medically reviewed and/or revised on a scheduled basis, depending on the nature of the content and how rapidly it is likely to change. In addition, procedures are in place to ensure that "emergency" updates, such as a drug being removed from the marketplace, occur within 2 weeks of the original announcement.

Archived Content

EBSCO Publishing houses a small percentage of its proprietary content in an Archived Collection. Archived content is at least two years old and has been removed from ongoing medical review. All articles in the Archived Collection are clearly indicated as such and include a linked explanation of what this designation means. From time to time, selected content may be removed from the Archived Collection and returned to the active review process, in which case the article must be updated and medically reviewed before it loses its archived designation.

Content in the Archived Collection that is greater than five years old is permanently removed from EBSCO Publishing's repository of health information.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Content

EBSCO Publishing provides extensive information in the area of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Encyclopedic CAM content (Complementary Therapies) is written and reviewed by at least two physician experts in the field of CAM, cited extensively, and updated regularly. No claims of therapeutic benefit are made without adequate citations from the medical literature.

Acquired Content

EBSCO Publishing may acquire content sources through acquisition. Due diligence is performed prior to any acquisition to be certain that the content in question meets or exceeds the same editorial standards that apply to EBSCO Publishing's proprietary and licensed content. Subsequent review of acquired content follows the same procedures as proprietary EBSCO Publishing content.

Licensed Content

EBSCO Publishing licenses certain content sources from third party vendors. Due diligence is performed before an agreement for distribution rights is negotiated with the content supplier. Before licensing any content from third party providers, EBSCO Publishing determines that, at a minimum, the content source is: (1) evidence-based and consistent with national practice guidelines (where applicable), (2) reviewed and updated by the licensee according to a regular, pre-determined schedule, and (3) free of racial, gender, or other biases. EBSCO Publishing assesses whether or not its licensed content sources continue to meet these standards on an ongoing basis.

EBSCO Publishing's licensed content is provided by the following vendors:

Drug Information

Lexi-Comp Drug Information consists of drug monographs written for consumers. A peditaric collection is written for children. Provided through a partnership with Lexi-Comp.

MEDLINE®

One of the world's largest biomedical databases, including over 10 million references to journal articles in all fields of medicine and related disciplines, including dentistry and nursing.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary

Provides definitions of more than 55,000 medical terms.

Personal Health Manager

Suite of health management tools designed to assess risk including a personal and family health record. Provided through a partnership with HealthStatus.

Health Newswire Content

A consumer-oriented medical news service updated weekdays with new articles on a variety of health subjects. Provided through a partnership with HealthDay

Drug Interaction Database

In partnership with Lexi-Comp, this tool allows users to check medications for possible interactions between medications.

Co-Branded Content

EBSCO Publishing may make co-branded content available on its website. Due diligence and detailed content review must be performed before any agreement is negotiated with a co-branding partner. Before agreeing to host co-branded content, EBSCO Publishing determines that, at a minimum, the content source is: (1) evidence-based and consistent with national practice guidelines (where applicable), (2) reviewed and updated on a regular, pre-determined schedule, (3) includes no advertisements in any way related to the nature of the content, and (4) free of racial, gender, or other biases.

Citation and Authoring

EBSCO Publishing maintains different guidelines pertaining to different types of proprietary content.

Healthy Living Centers, Journal Notes, and Material Based on Clinical Experience or Scholarly Research

Bylines are provided for the Healthy Living Centers (e.g., Women's Health, Food & Nutrition, and Aging & Health), Journal Notes, and any material based on clinical experience or scholarly research. Where contractually feasible, all authors' names link to his or her biography.

Health content based on clinical experience or scholarly research is substantiated by a majority of references that are no more than five years old and that appeared originally in peer-reviewed journals, medical texts or papers; findings from government agencies and/or medical associations; or presentations at major medical meetings. The Medical Director has the final discretion over whether or not a reference meets the standard for substantiating claims based on clinical experience or scholarly research.

Rather than list citations, articles provide "resources," which refer readers to appropriate related websites. This format is based on the print model of health magazines. In addition, writers are asked to provide source material for their articles, which are fact-checked as deemed necessary. "Sources" are listed on all Journal Notes articles. They are listed in many Healthy Living Center articles, as well. For content created in September 2002 and forward, they will be listed on all articles of every type.

Database-Type Content

Where contractually feasible, database-type content (e.g., Conditions InDepth; Conditions InBrief) will be authored, and the author's name will link to his or her biography. Database-type content is heavily cited. Allowable citations for this type of content include:

  • Journal articles (must include journal name, article title, volume, date, and page)
  • Medical books (must include book name, edition, publication date, and publisher)
  • Affiliated associations or agencies (must include association name and URL)

We do not require that citations from associations and agencies list specific articles, since in some cases they do not provide specific articles (CDC, for example, provides statistics and charts).

Advertising and Sponsorship

To ensure that EBSCO Publishing content remains scientifically balanced and commercially unbiased, EBSCO Publishing accepts neither advertising nor sponsorship of its content and does not offer user promotions of any type. This would also apply to any co-branded content. EBSCO Publishing will not require or encourage an author to promote a product, device, or service.

Conflict of Interest

EBSCO Publishing's authors and reviewers may not engage, as an owner, director, employee, consultant, or otherwise, in any business or other activity that could reasonably be expected to bias or otherwise adversely affect or impact their ability to perform in an accurate, unbiased, impartial, and complete manner, and in accordance with generally accepted professional standards.

Content Links

EBSCO Publishing may provide links to an external Web site; these links are for information purposes only. When you click on such a link, another window will open, signifying that you are leaving EBSCO Publishing content. The privacy policy of the external Web site is in effect, not EBSCO Publishing's. Although EBSCO Publishing endeavors to make sure that the site is a source of accurate, relevant, and balanced information, EBSCO Publishing neither controls nor makes an endorsement of any kind regarding the external site.

Links to external Web sites are selected based on an individual author's assessment of: (1) source, (2) accuracy, (3) relevance, and (4) balance. In-house editors review the selected external Web sites. The Medical Director has final discretion as to whether an embedded link meets these criteria. All content links undergo editorial review for content and functionality on the same schedule as the content in which they are embedded.

Claims of Therapeutic Benefit

Claims of therapeutic benefit must be substantiated by a majority of references that are no more than five years old and that appeared originally in peer-reviewed journals, medical texts, or papers presented at major medical meetings. The Medical Director has the final discretion over whether or not a reference meets the standard for substantiating therapeutic benefit.

Self-Assessment Tools

EBSCO Publishing's interactive calculators are designed to provide general results based on input provided by the user that is calculated against measurements or assessments considered standard by various government agencies, including USDA, CDC, and FDA. The inputted information will consist only of single values (e.g.: anthropometric values, age, smoking status, and activity levels) not detailed clinical information, and the results will not indicate or suggest a specific course of action unique to the user, other than suggesting clinical follow-up with his or her physician.

EBSCO Publishing's risk assessors will offer general, non-numeric results about a user's potential degree of risk of various chronic conditions. They will be based on questionnaires that either have been adopted by major government agencies or institutions, or have been validated by studies in the published medical literature. The results, which are generated from users' single value or yes/no responses to a list of specific questions, will constitute no more than the advice to clinically follow-up with a physician for further evaluation. Treatment recommendations will never be made, and identifiable health information will neither be requested nor recorded.

There must be a statement on the Web site associated with all self-assessment tools indicating its source, scientific basis and the date of the last review or update.

Last Reviewed by EBSCO Publishing Executive Management July 2004.