Editorial Policy
How Folic Acid Info sources, writes, grades, reviews, updates, and corrects its health content.
Health information has to be accurate, current, and easy to verify. This policy explains how we make sure ours is.
1. Sourcing
We rely on primary, authoritative sources, in roughly this order:
- U.S. government health agencies, such as the CDC, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, the FDA, and MedlinePlus.
- Clinical practice guidelines and recommendations, such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, ACOG, the NHS, and the WHO.
- Peer-reviewed research, preferably systematic reviews and randomized trials, indexed in PubMed.
We do not use supplement company marketing, forums, or unsourced articles as evidence. Every factual claim links to its source with a numbered citation, and each page lists its full sources at the end. Our sources page lists every source we cite across the site.
2. Accuracy standards
Every page that discusses doses follows these rules:
- Units are explicit. We distinguish mcg of folic acid from mcg Dietary Folate Equivalents (DFE).
- Prevention is separate from treatment. Routine daily intake, high-risk pregnancy doses, deficiency treatment, and doses used with medicines are never merged into one table.
- Forms are distinct. Folic acid, food folate, 5-MTHF (methylfolate), and folinic acid (leucovorin) have different evidence and uses.
- Medicines defer to the prescriber. Pages about methotrexate, antiseizure drugs, or cancer treatment tell readers to follow their prescriber's exact plan.
3. Grading the evidence
When we describe a health effect, we label it:
| Grade | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Established | Supported by strong, consistent evidence and current guidelines |
| Condition-specific | Proven for a particular diagnosis or situation, not for everyone |
| Possible | Some supporting evidence, but not enough to recommend for prevention |
| Mixed | Studies disagree, or results depend heavily on the population |
| Unsupported | Little or no good evidence, or evidence against the claim |
4. Review
Pages are written from the cited sources and checked against them before publishing. We are adding credentialed medical reviewers. Once a reviewer is in place, each reviewed page will name the reviewer and the review date.
5. Updates and corrections
Every page shows its "Updated" date. We review pages when a major source, such as CDC or USPSTF guidance, changes. If you find an error, contact us. We correct factual errors promptly and note significant corrections on the page.
6. Independence and disclosure
Folic Acid Info is free to read. We may earn money through affiliate links: if you buy a product or test through a link on our site, the seller may pay us a commission at no extra cost to you. Pages with affiliate links say so at the top.
Commercial relationships never change our guidance. Products are only mentioned where they fit what the evidence and public health recommendations say, and we never describe a product as treating, curing, or preventing a condition beyond what the cited guidance supports. Advertisers do not review or approve our content.
7. Images
Our photographs come from Pexels and are credited on each page. Photos are illustrative and do not show real patients described in the text.