1. No brand and no product is named
Anywhere on this site, in any context, favourable or otherwise. Filters are referred to by their standardised ingredient names rather than by supplier trade names, because trade names are brands. Regulators, standards organisations, professional bodies, charities and journals are named, because they are institutions rather than products.
2. No sun protection factor is attributed to any plant oil
Including for the purpose of arguing against one. Figures in circulation are described as circulating and their provenance is discussed; they are not restated, because restating a figure is how a figure survives.
3. No rankings, no recommendations, no comparisons of products
This publication has not assessed any product and will not publish a list of businesses it has not assessed. Where a question would naturally produce a ranking, it produces a set of criteria instead.
4. Nothing is invented
No study, statistic, clinic, practitioner, price, case study or safety figure is invented. Where a figure would be needed and cannot be verified, the point is made without it or the piece changes. Several articles here deliberately omit numbers that other sources state confidently, for that reason.
5. Claims carry a published status
From a fixed vocabulary defined in advance, containing no numbers. The argument for a status always sits directly above it.
6. Clinical questions are handed over
At skin cancer, diagnosis, treatment, medication, children's health and supplementation, this publication stops and points to the NHS, NICE, the British Association of Dermatologists, a GP or a pharmacist. It does not offer a second opinion in areas where it has no standing.
7. Sources are institutional and checkable
Regulators, published regulation, scientific committee opinions, national health bodies, professional associations, standards organisations and indexed journals. Where a body of research is described rather than a single paper cited, that is stated.
8. Money cannot buy any of the above
Register entrants and newsletter sponsors cannot influence a claim status, obtain a mention in an article, see material before publication, or have accurate material removed. This is repeated on the criteria page and in what we refuse to sell.
9. Corrections are visible
Inaccuracies are corrected with a dated note. Statuses change when evidence changes, and the change is recorded. Accurate material is not withdrawn at request.
10. External links are nofollow
Every external link on this site carries a nofollow attribute. There are no commercial links of any kind on any page, and no link anywhere has been paid for.