Medical, Health, and Wellness Research Tips

Where To Find Information

Healthline! WebMD! Not exactly. While reading commercial articles on a topic can be a good place to gather general context and get a feel for what kind of information readers are looking for, those aren't primary sources. (Their source lists, however, should be full of primary sources that might also help you with your article.) 

When you’re looking for good sources for medical content, start with Google Scholar and PubMed. Here are a few “insider tips” for how to make these tools work for you.

Google Scholar

Level up your Google game. Instead of google.com, head to https://scholar.google.com/. Select "articles" instead of "case law." From there, you can search like you normally would on Google, but the results you'll see should be largely scholarly sources only.

Tips for phrasing your search:

• When your topic has several words, use quotations to force the exact phrase match (Google can figure out what you mean when you leave out articles and prepositions).

  • Example: “Anti-inflammatory properties microgreens”

• When you need search results that discuss two items in relation to one another, put each in quotations with an AND between them. This format limits your results to those that contain both phrases.

  • Example: “Balanced diet” AND “weight management”

• Add the year behind your search to limit your results to only those published in that year. (You might run this search a couple of times, starting with the current year and going back one or two years.)

  • Example: “Calcium intake for women over 40” 2022

If you need the full text of an article, Google recommends the following: 

1. Click "All versions" under the search result and check out the alternative sources.

2. Click "Related articles" or "Cited by" under the search results to explore similar articles.

PubMed

If you’re new to PubMed, check out this quick-start guide with extensive guidance on how to make the most of your searches on the platform. 

Tips for searching on PubMed:

• Use specific search terms to narrow your search.

• Use the sidebar filters to help you search by publication date or full-text availability. (Heads up, MyFitnessPal writers!)

• Check the “Similar Articles” section in the abstract for additional resources.

What You Can Cite and Link To

When compiling your research, focus on these principles to ensure your research is something you can cite.

1. Cite Peer-Reviewed Studies: Articles should be based on studies that have undergone rigorous peer review by experts in the field to ensure credibility and accuracy.

   • Some (not all) topics have well-established guidelines from the US Government, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Heart Association, or other professional health groups. When a topic is covered by guidelines by one of these organizations, those guidelines should be the primary source, and any studies cited should reconcile with the guidelines. If the study contradicts the current consensus covered by guidelines, address this inconsistency explicitly in your discussion.

   • Only cite articles that are available in full-text (not abstract only).

2. Source From Reputable Journals: Sources should come from established and respected scientific journals known for upholding high standards of research integrity. (Check out sample guidance from one of our clients for what counts as Acceptable Sources.)

3. Check for Robust Methodology: Studies should employ sound research methods, including clear experimental design, appropriate sample sizes, statistical analysis, and reproducibility.

4. Use Caution With Animal Studies: Animal studies should be approached with caution and clearly stated as not directly translatable to human studies due to biological differences. These studies are usually too preliminary. If you must cite those studies, be sure to provide context, such as “early research shows [conclusion], but it’s too soon to know if that’s true in people.”

5. Be Consistent With Your Source: Any claim your article makes should be clearly verifiable by the study cited.

If you’re not able to find a peer-reviewed study, academic, government, and nonprofit sources are all generally acceptable, but be discerning about the site’s reliability. Source websites should typically end with .gov, .org, or .edu. 

Common Sourcing Mistakes

Review this list of common sourcing mistakes we've seen across medical, health, and wellness clients — and avoid them!

1. Citing commercial sites. 

All informational content on MFP must be science-backed. Linking to top-ranking commercial sites like Healthline and WebMD is not sufficient. While reading articles like these can be a helpful step in your research, adding context and helping you understand what readers are looking to learn, you’ll need to go deeper. Always start with PubMed or Google Scholar. If you find useful information on a commercial site, consult its source list and go find the information directly from the primary source, verify it, and restate it.

2. Using media coverage of studies.

The goal is to use primary sources as much as possible, so don’t cite media coverage of a study but cite the study instead. Example: If The New York Times covers a study, you can’t use its report as a source. Find the study, and use that as your source. If The Today Show covers new medical news, find the primary source they’re discussing instead of citing The Today Show. 

• If you are covering a breaking news story or something that is only covered in media (for instance, a trend, an obit, or a celebrity health crisis), you’ll need to use mainstream media. Check with the team about what sources are OK.

3. Citing animal studies or lab research.

This work is too preliminary.  A lot of the time, the findings don’t end up applying to people.  If you absolutely must include a mention of this research, include something like this: “But that work is still in its early stages, and it’s not yet clear if the findings apply to people.”

4. Overreaching. 

Always provide context. Do not make findings seem more definitive than they are, and if a study showed a possible link but not cause-and-effect, make that clear.

• For example, if people who eat a lot of blueberries are less likely to get dementia, that doesn’t necessarily mean the blueberries prevented dementia. The blueberry-eaters might also have other healthy habits or advantages.

• Sometimes, it’s as simple as saying, “People who eat blueberries are less likely to get dementia than people who never eat blueberries.” But not, “Blueberries prevent dementia.” The phrase “are less likely” shows a relationship between A and B, without saying A causes B.

5. Not completing the full circle of content value.

Be sure you are proving all of the content value the reader should know. That is, don’t stop at the “what” of the content. Include the “why” and the “how.”

• For example: Broccoli benefits your health because it’s a good source of necessary vitamins and nutrients. While this is a true sentence, it doesn’t explain how the necessary vitamins and nutrients benefit your health. 

6. Citing out-of-date research.

Use the latest, most relevant content unless you need to refer to a landmark study from the past.  

• How old is too old for a study? There’s not a hard and fast rule on that. Some topics get studied often, and findings might change quickly. Other topics don’t get as much research, so a study that’s several years old might be the latest. The only way to find out is to search.