Frequently asked questions
Is this medical advice?
No. ProofDigest is an information platform, not a care provider. We describe what research has found; we prescribe nothing — no doses, no personal prognosis, no reading of your results. Always discuss your situation with your own clinician.
Who decides the level of evidence?
A fixed rule, not a person and not a language model. It reads what the National Library of Medicine recorded about a study: the type of study, and whether it was done in people, animals or cells. The reason for each grade is stored with it.
Why does a meta-analysis sometimes get a low grade?
Because who it was studied in weighs more than how it was studied. A meta-analysis that pools mouse experiments is a strong method applied to animals — for you as a reader that is level 2, however impressive the statistics.
Why is the funding so often “not declared”?
Because PubMed carries no conflict-of-interest statement for most articles. We show what is there and we do not fill in the rest. “Not declared” means nobody wrote it down; it does not mean the research was independent.
Can I read the original study?
Always. Every page links to the publication on PubMed, with its year and journal. Whether the full text is free to read is up to the publisher, not to us.
Which languages is this available in?
English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Italian. The same studies and the same grades in every language; the original is always within reach.
Do you sell anything besides the subscription?
No. No advertising, no affiliate links, no sponsored content, no products. That is checked nightly rather than promised in a sentence.
How often does the archive change?
New publications are collected continuously. A study already in the archive is re-checked as well: how often it has been built on changes over time, and so can its place.
Something else? Write to us.