Editorial Policy

Mission Statement

BioNews strives to bridge the gap between the science and patient communities by providing accurate, relevant, and up-to-date reporting for its patient communities on each of its dedicated digital platforms.

Our goal is to ensure the patients, caregivers, and others who make up our communities have access to disease-specific information that is trustworthy and easy for them to understand.

Our news coverage includes the latest on research, treatment approaches, and clinical trials. We also amplify the patient voice by providing firsthand perspectives from people affected by the conditions we cover in the form of columns.

 

Commitment to Editorial Integrity

BioNews upholds the highest levels of journalistic integrity, with the goal of maintaining objectivity and transparency. As such, editorial content published on the website is not influenced in any way by its advertisers.

While relevant and responsible sponsorships are accepted, editorial content is produced independently of advertising and is not subject to undue influence from either external or internal factors.

Additionally, BioNews acts as a neutral entity, providing fact-based information that allows readers to empower and advocate for themselves. Our news coverage is nonbiased and reports only the facts without offering opinions, recommendations, or suggestions.

While columnists write from their own experiences and perspectives, they do not offer advice or recommendations for how others should live their lives or manage their condition.

For information, see our Advertising Policy.

 

Diversity

BioNews fosters an inclusive environment and recognizes its diverse readership. We make every effort to represent all ages races, ethnicities, religions, and genders.

 

Ethics

BioNews strives to avoid conflicts of interest that may jeopardize the integrity of our work. Unavoidable conflicts of interest must be disclosed to the readership.

Engaging in quid pro quo arrangements is prohibited. No member of the editorial staff is authorized to give or receive gifts, monetary compensation, nor favors in exchange for information, promotion, interviews, or sources.

BioNews does not engage in ambush journalism or make attempts to entrap sources into making damaging or discreditable statements that may be harmful to themselves, their organization, or others.

We understand the sensitive nature of some of the topics we cover and will always consider the ethical and moral implications of such topics before publishing and make all attempts to minimize harm.

BioNews tolerates neither plagiarism nor knowingly imparting false information to readers, and such practices may be grounds for removal of the person responsible.

Libel, or a published false statement that may cause harm to a person or entity, regardless of intention, must be avoided at all costs. Any statement or report that has the potential to injure a person or entity’s reputation must be truthful and supported by facts, not opinion, conjecture, or personal experience. The use of fake names or de-identifying individuals or entities does not absolve the company in this matter, and this practice is prohibited.

Individuals have a right to privacy. Any interaction in which the parties have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as personal conversations taking place either in person or online, may not be published without the express permission of the parties involved.

 

Sourcing

BioNews only uses sources that are trustworthy, reputable, and peer-reviewed, in the case of scientific and medical journals. Sources are thoroughly vetted by editors for bias, significant conflicts of interest, accuracy, and flaws or weaknesses in research.

All sources must be cited, either through named attribution or link to original source material.

Anonymous sources are generally not accepted, although exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis due to the sensitive nature of the material we cover.

All information imparted during interviews by sources is considered on the record, unless the source requests to speak off the record. If such a request is made, BioNews will acknowledge and respect a source’s right to speak off the record and such information will not be made public.

Press embargos are always honored, and information received under such an embargo will not be published or disseminated before the embargoed date and time. Sharing embargoed information with advertising or business partners is strictly forbidden.

In the event of negative coverage, BioNews will make every attempt to give sources an opportunity to respond. However, if a source hasn’t responded within 24 hours, editors may proceed with publishing.

In order to maintain editorial independence and objectivity, personnel outside editorial are generally not permitted to review articles in full prior to publishing. On a case-by-case basis and at the discretion of editors, it may be acceptable for quotes by named sources to be reviewed for accuracy and clarity. Additionally, depending on the subject matter, it may be necessary for certain sections of an article to be reviewed by external sources to ensure scientific accuracy.

 

Transparency and Corrections

As an independent news organization committed to upholding the highest standards of accuracy and transparency, BioNews strives to promptly acknowledge and correct errors.

In the event of a factual error, a correction will be issued. If the story is factually correct but the language used to explain those facts is insufficient for understanding and clarity, or if there is an error in tone, language, or context, a clarification may be issued.

Articles may only be significantly edited after publishing in cases of errors of fact that must be corrected. When corrections are issued, a statement will be included at the top of the article noting both the error and how it was corrected.

In some instances, BioNews may update a story to add information that was not available at the time of publishing. A note will be included at the top of the story detailing such additions.

Article takedown requests are generally not granted. In cases of grave errors that cannot be corrected or serious questions on the veracity of sources that cannot be resolved, editors may make a decision to remove an article. In these instances, an explanation will be issued to the readership on why the article was taken down.

For more information, see our Corrections Policy.

 

Editorial Process

News articles and resource pages that provide facts and information about the diseases we cover are written by science writers, all of whom have a PhD or Master of Science in the life sciences or related field. Columns are written by people directly affected by a disease, such as a patient or caregiver.

All articles published on BioNews platforms go through a stringent fact-checking and editing process to ensure they are accurate, objective, comprehensive, and well explained.

News articles and resource pages are fact-checked by PhD science editors for accuracy and thoroughness before going to our team of veteran copy editors who ensure the content is well-written, grammatically correct, and easy to understand.

While columns are largely opinion and perspective pieces, each one still goes through a comprehensive editing and fact-checking process to ensure clarity, accuracy, and fairness.

The ultimate goal of the editorial staff is to ensure that each piece of content published on BioNews platforms meets our high standards of quality and serves readers by providing them with trustworthy content that helps enrich their daily lives and arms them with information they can use to educate, empower, and advocate for themselves.

 

Contact Information

BioNews is always interested in hearing from its readers. Questions and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. All inquiries will be directed to the appropriate department for response.