MEpedia talk:Scientific standards
Some possible ideas to consider:
1) Quality of references: should be peer-reviewed journal articles or reputable textbooks
2) In the absence of good research, anecdotes can be cited under certain conditions (what conditions?) so long as in the text of the article, the information is not passed off as an established fact and the source of the information is clear. For example, "some clinicians have observed...." or "many patients have reported...." There still needs to be an external citation.
3) Avoid where possible citing health blogs or other third party sources for information that is considered to be scientific fact, especially where a first party source (i.e., a journal article) is available. Blogs, forums, etc. *can* on a case by case basis be reasonable sources for anecdotal or observational information.
4) Where available, always report both negative and positive results. If you do a search for, say, muscle biopses in ME patients, report both the studies that found evidence of abnormalities and studies that did not.
5) Where possible, report information about the design of a specific study or series of studies if they help the reader to grasp the quality and reliability of the findings. For example you might point out features of the design that decrease our confidence in the outcome: small sample sizes, lack of controls, open label. You might also point out information about the design that increase our confidence: randomized, double blind, large N, proper controls, finding replicated. This does not need to be done in great detail but you might say, "Several small n studies have found...." Or "A large, randomized trial found......"
