Editorial standards

1. Every claim is traceable

Pages are written from named guidance: national cancer organisations, clinical societies, systematic reviews and major cancer charities. Those sources are listed at the foot of every page with the date the page was last checked against them. If a claim cannot be traced to something in that list, it does not go on the site.

2. We do not invent certainty

Where evidence is mixed, we say so. Where practice varies between countries and hospitals, we say that too, and point you at your own team rather than implying a universal rule. Where the honest answer is “nobody knows”, that is what you will read.

3. Numbers are used carefully

We avoid quoting statistics that cannot be attributed, and we avoid survival figures entirely on general pages: population statistics do not describe an individual, they are frequently out of date, and reading them during a bad week does harm without informing anything.

4. Who checks it, stated plainly

LifeAfterward is written and fact-checked by health writers against the published guidance listed at the foot of every page. It is not individually reviewed by a clinician, and every page says so in those words rather than leaving a gap you would reasonably fill in with an assumption.

We do not describe that as “review pending” either, because we are not currently pursuing clinical reviewers, and a promise that is not coming is its own small dishonesty. If that changes, reviewers will be credited by name and role on the pages they have actually read, and nowhere else — including in the page's structured data, which asserts clinical review only where it has happened.

What you get instead is traceability: named sources on every page, the date it was last checked against them, and a plain statement of what this site is. Pages are re-checked against their sources at least every 12 months, and sooner when guidance changes; source links are re-checked at the same time.

The practical implication for you as a reader: treat this as a well-sourced starting point for the conversation with your own team, not as a second opinion. That is what the medical disclaimer says, and it is meant literally.

5. Structure that protects the reader

Every guide must carry, as a structural requirement rather than an editorial aspiration:

• a plain-English “what this means”;
• the terminology explained where it is used;
• “what to ask your healthcare team”;
• “when to seek medical advice”, separating “contact your team” from “get emergency help today”;
• named sources, and the dates it was updated and reviewed.

These are required fields in our content system. A page physically cannot be published without them.

6. General information, not personal advice

We are careful with the distinction. General information describes what is typically true for a group; personal medical advice applies it to you, and requires knowing your diagnosis, treatment, other conditions and medications. Only your clinicians can do the second. See our medical disclaimer.

7. No commercial influence

No advertising, no sponsored content, no affiliate links to health products, and no payment for inclusion in our list of trusted organisations. Conjora Limited publishes the site. Any future change to funding will be disclosed and labelled.

8. Language

We write in plain English, in the second person, without euphemism and without battle-and-bravery framing. We say “people who have had cancer” rather than assuming anyone identifies as a survivor, and we do not tell anyone how to feel about it.

9. Corrections

If something is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. Substantive corrections update the page’s “last updated” date. Clinicians who spot an error, or who would like to review a page, are especially welcome — get in touch.

10. Accessibility

The site targets WCAG 2.2 AA: it works with a keyboard alone, respects reduced-motion preferences, uses text as well as colour to carry meaning, and is designed to be readable on a phone at two in the morning. Tell us where it fails and we will treat it as a bug.