Sources & copyright
Dose-Response critically appraises published research for clinicians. We think it matters that we do this the right way, so here is exactly how we source the research we appraise, why our appraisals are our own work rather than a republication of anyone else's, and how rights holders can reach us.
How we source research
We identify and read research through the official, public research databases that exist for exactly this purpose:
- PubMed / NCBI E-utilities (the U.S. National Library of Medicine) — for titles, abstracts and citation metadata, accessed through NCBI's sanctioned API with an API key.
- Europe PMC — for a paper's abstract and metadata, through its public REST API.
We work from the abstract and bibliographic metadata (title, journal, authors, publication date, citation counts). For every paper we link out to the original via its DOI or PubMed record, so you can read it at the source.
We appraise, we do not republish
What we publish is our own critical appraisal — an independent analysis of a study's design, methodology, risk of bias, effect size and clinical relevance, written by us. This is commentary and review, a use expressly recognised in copyright law (fair dealing for criticism and review in the UK; fair use in the US).
- We do not host, copy or redistribute the full text of any article. We link to the publisher's version.
- We do not scrape or download paywalled full text or PDFs.
- Where we cite a study's results, we use its reported facts (effect sizes, confidence intervals, p-values), which are data, not protected expression, and we never fabricate or misstate them.
- We keep any quotation minimal and always attribute the source.
Full text you upload
Our on-demand appraisal lets you paste or upload the text of a paper you already have legitimate access to. That text is used only to produce your appraisal, is never shared with other users, and is not redistributed. You are responsible for having the right to access anything you upload.
Respecting publishers and databases
We use each data source in line with its terms of use and rate limits, and we do not imply that any database, publisher or the National Library of Medicine endorses Dose-Response. Our appraisals are independent editorial content.
Rights holders — found something you'd like us to change or remove? We take copyright seriously and respond promptly. Email [email protected] with the details (the appraisal or page, the work concerned, and your relationship to it) and we will review it and act quickly where appropriate.
Editorial appraisals are for professional education, not clinical advice, always read the primary source. doseresponse.org