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Editorial Policy

Our website is committed to providing objective and trustworthy information and guidance on all aspects of Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

In all instances, we strive to ensure that content is evidence-based, in other words, that it is founded on the best scientific knowledge currently available.

Principles

Standards

Editorial process

The following sections set out our editorial principles, standards and processes:

Principles

Accuracy:
ASD Clinic content will be accurate, balanced and transparent. Information given will be judged against the best available scientific evidence. Where content contains conjecture or opinion, this will be clearly indicated.

Impartiality and diversity of opinion:
ASD Clinic will be objective, impartial and even-handed. Where views differ and no scientific consensus can be found it will reflect all significant strands of opinion and state the uncertainty clearly.

Accountability:
ASD Clinic is accountable to its users and will deal fairly with them. It will be open in admitting mistakes and encourages a culture of learning via user feedback. Its editorial processes will be transparent.

Serving our users:
ASD Clinic will put its users' interests first when sourcing and developing content. It will consult widely with relevant professional bodies, charities and other interest groups but serving our users will remain paramount.

Taste and decency:
All content on ASD Clinic will be suitable for a general audience and will not include material that might reasonably be deemed offensive.

Privacy:
ASD Clinic views its users' privacy as paramount and, barring legal order, will not divulge any correspondence or personal information it may hold about them without their prior and explicit permission.

Funding:
ASD Clinic is privately funded. We reserve the right to carry contextual advertising and / or accept payment from affiliate advertising.

Standards

Staff interests and independence:
ASD Clinic has a dedicated team of editors. They operate independently of the site's marketing and commercial functions and have a clear mandate to produce accurate, balanced and transparent information.

Where content is produced by outside organisations or individuals, ASD Clinic requires that such agents make a similar disclosure of outside interests.

Training:
All editorial staff are qualified Therapists. In addition to their professional qualifications they are given professional development training to ensure editorial standards are met.

Editorial process

Phase 1 - Research
The evidence-based knowledge that informs all ASD Clinic content is derived from peer-reviewed scientific research and from the direct experience of clinicians, other health professionals, patients and the wider public.

In pulling together this knowledge to provide users with a rounded and balanced package of material on a particular subject, ASD Clinics requires its therapists to consult the following resources:

Practising therapists, doctors and other clinicians with direct and current experience in dealing with or treating the health issue under investigation,
National charities with a recognised expertise and specialist interest,
Patients and ordinary members of the wider public who may be directly affected by a topic or issue,
The Cochrane Collaboration an international network of people helping healthcare providers, policy makers, patients, their advocates and carers, make well-informed decisions about human health care
The Department of Health
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) provides guidance, sets quality standards and manages a national database to improve people's health and prevent and treat ill health.

Phase 2 - Production
Once a piece of content has been researched and drafted, it is edited by a senior member of the ASD Clinic editorial team. It is checked for:

Accuracy
Balance
Accessibility
Tone

Written content is then passed to a sub-editor who checks it for:

Common factual errors
Spelling
Grammar
Adherence to house style
Overall presentation

Phase 3 - Clinical check and sign-off
All content requires signing off by an appropriately qualified and experienced clinician before it can be published on the ASD Clinic website.

Review of content:
ASD Clinic content is reviewed systematically. Comments from users on published content are considered on a day-by-day basis as they arrive, and content reviewed and amended immediately if necessary.

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Conditions we treat