Editorial Policy

Sourcing standards

Health claims on Firsthand must trace to primary sources. In order of preference, we cite:

• Peer-reviewed research indexed on PubMed — randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews first, then observational studies.
• NIH resources and trial registries — including ClinicalTrials.gov and the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheets.
• FDA materials — approvals, warning letters, recalls, and safety communications.

Manufacturer websites, press releases, and influencer content are never used as evidence for a health claim. When a study is funded by the product's maker, we disclose that in the article.

No disease-cure claims

Firsthand never states or implies that a supplement or wellness product diagnoses, treats, cures, or prevents any disease. We describe what published research found — including its limits — and nothing more. Content that can't meet this standard doesn't get published.

Human review before publishing

Every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication — no piece of content goes live automatically. Editors check claims against the cited sources, verify links, and confirm the article meets this policy.

Editorial fact-check for health money pages

Any monetized page that makes health-related claims — product rankings, reviews, and comparisons — must additionally be fact-checked by our editorial team before publication. The team checks that claims match the cited evidence, that safety information is complete and fairly presented, and that the page contains no implied medical advice. Pages that haven't passed this fact-check don't carry the "fact-checked" badge, and money pages aren't published without it. We do not employ a licensed medical reviewer, and we do not describe our editorial fact-check as medical review or medical advice.

Sponsored relationships

Firsthand earns affiliate commissions, disclosed prominently on every page that contains affiliate links and explained in full in our affiliate disclosure. Sponsors and affiliate partners have no access to content before publication, no input into scores or rankings, and no ability to request removal of unfavorable information. We do not publish paid-placement "reviews." If we ever run clearly-labeled sponsored content, it will be visually distinct from editorial content and excluded from rankings.

Corrections policy

When we get something wrong, we fix it quickly and visibly. Material errors — a wrong dose, a misread study, an outdated safety warning — are corrected in the article, and the page's last-updated date reflects the change. Significant corrections are noted in the article itself. To report an error, use our contact page; we review every report.

Keeping content current

Health evidence moves. Rankings and reviews display a last-updated date, and we re-examine pages when new trials publish, products reformulate, prices change materially, or regulators act. Our scoring rubric is published on the methodology page.