Source policy

Every fact should be linked to a source. Sources are ranked by reliability, in this order:

1. Government
2. Academic / research
3. Official primary source
4. Reputable journalism
5. Industry source
6. Organization
7. Other

Statements an organization publishes about itself are labeled "official claim" and kept apart from independent sources; peer-reviewed papers written by the provider are marked "provider-authored". Every cited source has an evidence page listing the facts, answers and articles that rely on it.

Evidence level and independence

Reliability and independence are two separate questions, so every source carries both. The evidence level is A (government, regulator or public register), B (peer-reviewed literature), C (official, professional-society or teaching-hospital material), D (journalism) or E (background reading that is never used as evidence). Independence says whether the publisher has a stake in the claim: independent, provider-authored (an independent venue, but written by the party making the claim) or self-published.

A regulatory or provider claim is only shown as verified when an independent level-A record backs it — an entry in a public register that a reader can look up. Statistics and outcomes need an independent level-A or level-B source. A peer-reviewed paper written by the provider’s own clinicians is real evidence but never independent evidence, so it cannot on its own lift a claim above "limited". Where a public register has been read, the entry itself is quoted on the page.

Where no reliable source is available yet, the value is shown as a bracketed placeholder and marked pending. Broken links are re-checked automatically and flagged.