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A Medical Page Has No Sources: How to Find the Original Guidance

A medical page with no sources is a page that doesn't show where its information came from, so you can't check it. MedlinePlus, the consumer health site of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, says content pages should have links or references to the sources of their information, and dates showing when it was written, reviewed, or updated. Your job is to trace the claim back to the organization that first published it, compare the two, and discuss what you find with your health care provider before you rely on it.

This guide gives you a trace-back checklist, a myth-versus-reality list, an honest look at what this process can and can't tell you, and a worksheet for talking it over with your care team.

Urgent Situations Come First

If you're reading a health page because of sudden, severe, or frightening symptoms, stop researching and call your local emergency number now. Checking a page's sources is for decisions that can wait. It is never a substitute for urgent care.

Plain-Language Definitions

  • Source: Where a piece of information came from. On a web page, a source usually shows up as a link, a reference list, or a named organization.
  • Original guidance: The first published version of a recommendation or fact. For example, a page on the website of the government agency, medical school, or professional organization that wrote it.
  • Secondary page: A page that retells someone else's information, such as a blog post, an article, or a social media post.
  • Unsourced claim: A statement with nothing that lets you check it. It might be true, but you can't tell from the page alone.

Myths vs. Reality About Unsourced Health Pages

  • Myth: A page that looks professional must be reliable.
    • Reality: MedlinePlus suggests asking who runs the site, what its purpose is, and who pays for it. A polished design doesn't answer any of those questions.
  • Myth: If a page sounds confident, the facts must be settled.
    • Reality: MedlinePlus says to beware of dramatic writing, promises of cures, and claims that sound too good to be true.
  • Myth: A page's purpose doesn't matter if the facts look right.
    • Reality: MedlinePlus notes that if a business pays for a site, the health information may favor that business and its products. Ads should be clearly marked as advertisements.
  • Myth: Undated information is fine as long as it was true once.
    • Reality: MedlinePlus says content pages should include dates when the information was written, reviewed, or updated. Without a date, you can't tell how current the page is.
  • Myth: Once I find the original source, I know what to do.
    • Reality: MedlinePlus advises you to discuss the information you find with your health care provider before you rely on it.

The Trace-Back Checklist: Seven Steps to Find the Original Guidance

Steps 2 through 4 follow the MedlinePlus questions for judging health websites. Steps 1, 5, 6, and 7 are practical suggestions from our team for organizing your search, not official guidance.

  1. Write down the exact claim. Copy the sentence word for word, and note the page address and the date you read it, so you can compare it with the original later.
  2. Find out who runs the site. Look for an About page and a way to contact the owners. MedlinePlus says trustworthy sites give you a way to contact them, and it names federal government agencies, medical schools, and large professional or nonprofit organizations as examples of trustworthy owners.
  3. Check the purpose and the funding. MedlinePlus suggests asking whether the site is there to inform the public, to sell products or services, or to promote someone's opinions. Check that any ads are clearly labeled.
  4. Look for dates. Find when the page was written, reviewed, or updated. If you can't find a date, note that.
  5. Search for the claim where it most likely started. If the page names an organization, go to that organization's own website and search for the topic there. If the claim involves a medicine, get the exact spelling of its name first (see the worksheet below).
  6. Compare the original with the retelling. Does the original say the same thing, with the same limits and conditions? Check whether the secondary page added the warning signs MedlinePlus describes: dramatic writing, promises of cures, or claims that sound too good to be true.
  7. Record what you found, including what you couldn't find. “I couldn't find this claim on any official site” is still useful to take to your provider.

If the Page Is Reporting on a New Study

MedlinePlus notes that some news stories about medical research may not include all the facts you need. It suggests asking:

  • Did the research involve people or animals?
  • If it involved people, how many were in the study, and who were they?
  • How long was the study?
  • What type of study was it?
  • Who paid for the research?

If an unsourced page doesn't let you answer these questions, you have very little to go on.

If the Claim Came From Social Media or a Book

For social media, MedlinePlus suggests asking where the information comes from, why it exists, and whether anyone is funding it. If you're not sure a post is trustworthy, it advises not sharing it. For books, it suggests asking how old the book is, whether the author is an expert on the subject, whether the book offers different points of view, whether other experts have reviewed it, and whether it lists its sources.

What This Checklist Can and Can't Tell You

  • It can show you whether a claim traces back to a named organization you can contact, and whether the page you read changed what the original said.
  • It can't tell you whether the guidance fits your situation. That takes a conversation with your health care provider.
  • It can't prove an unsourced claim is false. A missing source means the claim is unverified, not necessarily wrong.
  • It doesn't grade the quality of the research behind the original guidance.
  • It won't always find an answer. Some claims can't be traced to any original source, and knowing that is useful too.

Apply the same questions to this site. PiedmontPrimaryCare.com is an independent wellness information website. Some of our other pages earn commissions, and we say so on our How We Work page. Our Editorial Team and Review Process page explains who writes our content and how we check it.

Conversation Worksheet: Bringing What You Found to Your Care Team

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, runs a public education effort called Questions Are the Answer. It highlights the role patients and families can play as part of their own healthcare teams. The worksheet below pairs a few of AHRQ's suggested questions with note prompts from our team.

Part 1: What I Read

  • The exact claim, in the page's own words:
  • Where I saw it (page address or source) and the date I read it:
  • Who runs that site, and what its purpose appears to be:
  • Whether the page listed sources or dates:

Part 2: What I Found

  • The original source I found, if any:
  • Whether the original matches the page I read:
  • What I couldn't find or verify:

Part 3: Questions to Ask

Choose the ones that fit your situation. The first five come from AHRQ's list. The last one is our suggestion.

  • How do you spell the name of that drug?
  • Will this medicine interact with medicines that I'm already taking?
  • Are there any side effects?
  • Why do I need this treatment?
  • Are there any alternatives?
  • Does the guidance I found apply to someone with my health history?

For help narrowing down what to ask, see our guide to choosing a primary care question. If you're sending your question through a patient portal, our guide to writing a clear non-emergency portal message can help. If the unsourced page was explaining a test result, see When a Lab Result Arrives Before the Explanation.

Sources

Important Information About This Page

This article is general educational information, not medical advice. It doesn't diagnose conditions, recommend treatments, or tell you to start, stop, or change any medicine. Talk with a qualified health care professional about decisions that affect your health. PiedmontPrimaryCare.com is an independent wellness information website written by the PiedmontPrimaryCare.com Wellness Team. We are not a medical practice, doctor's office, or health care provider, and we are not affiliated with any medical practice that operates or has operated under the name “Piedmont Primary Care.” In an emergency, call your local emergency number.