Editorial Policy

Editorial Standards

PBCMMG's editorial standards govern how we report, write, review, rank, correct, and disclose. We publish these standards in full so readers, peer physicians, and journalists can hold our work accountable.

Editorial Independence

PBCMMG editorial decisions — including topic selection, story assignment, news framing, and physician-ranking inclusion or position — are made independent of advertising relationships, sponsored content, and the personal commercial interests of our staff.

Sponsored content is produced under a wall separating commercial and editorial work. Sponsorship of one part of the publication does not influence editorial coverage in any other part, and advertisers receive no advance notice of, or veto over, related editorial work.

We do not accept government subsidies, pharmaceutical industry funding, or compensation for ranking position.

Sourcing & Citation Standards

Health and medical claims are sourced from peer-reviewed scientific literature where available, and from authoritative public agencies (CDC, NIH, FDA, state health departments, ABMS, NPPES, state medical boards) otherwise.

Where individual studies are referenced, we cite them by author, journal, and year, and link to the original work or its DOI. We avoid relying solely on press releases or pre-print research without independent verification.

Personal anecdotes, individual patient cases, and clinician opinion are clearly identified as such and never presented as established medical consensus.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Founder disclosure. PBCMMG's founder, Dr. Benjamin Soffer, is a practicing physician. He may be included in rankings covering his specialty and licensed geography. In every such ranking, his inclusion is determined by the same published criteria applied to all candidates, and he is excluded from any editorial review or tie-break decision involving his own ranking. Every ranking page on which he appears carries a visible conflict-of-interest disclosure with a link to this policy.

Staff and contributor disclosures. Editorial staff and outside contributors disclose financial relationships, family relationships with featured clinicians, and any compensation received from healthcare entities covered in their work. Material conflicts result in reassignment.

Sponsored relationships. No sponsor, advertiser, or commercial partner receives editorial preference. Sponsorship does not buy rankings, story coverage, favorable framing, or removal of unfavorable coverage.

AI-Assisted Writing Disclosure

PBCMMG uses AI-assisted research and drafting tools, including large language models such as Anthropic's Claude (via Amazon Bedrock), to support our editorial team's work.

AI tools are used for research synthesis, draft outlining, fact-pattern identification, and editorial productivity. AI-generated draft material is reviewed and edited by qualified human editors before any publication. No content generated by an AI tool is published without human editorial review.

We do not use AI to fabricate quotes, manufacture sources, or impersonate human contributors. Authors' bylines refer to real people responsible for the published work.

Our AI-use policy follows industry guidance from the Associated Press Stylebook, the New York Times standards, and Google's helpful-content principles, as well as FTC guidance on disclosure.

Corrections & Retractions

If we publish an error of fact, we correct it. Substantive corrections are dated and noted on the affected article or ranking page; trivial corrections (typographical, formatting) are silent.

For physician rankings, corrections may include re-ranking, removal, or addition of a candidate based on newly verified information — for example, a license-status change, board-certification update, or substantiated factual challenge to scoring data.

Retractions occur when an article is found to contain errors so significant that correction is insufficient. Retracted articles are clearly marked and the original text is preserved alongside the retraction notice; we do not silently delete content.

To report an error, email info@pbcmmg.com with the URL, the specific claim in question, and supporting documentation.

Diversity & Representation

Our coverage commitments include reflecting the demographics of the communities we serve in our reporting, sourcing, and physician profiles. We actively seek out women physicians, physicians of color, LGBTQ+ clinicians, and clinicians serving underrepresented patient populations as expert sources and ranking candidates.

This commitment does not alter our methodology weights but does inform our editorial outreach and the geographies and specialties we choose to rank.

Plagiarism & Attribution

PBCMMG content is original to PBCMMG except where clearly quoted and attributed. We do not republish syndicated content under our staff bylines.

Where we draw on others' reporting, we link to and credit the original publication. Direct quotation is enclosed in quotation marks with attribution. Paraphrased material is attributed to the original source.

Plagiarism in submitted contributor work results in withdrawal of the piece and termination of the contributor relationship.

Editorial Standards last reviewed: April 2026

Questions or concerns about our editorial work? info@pbcmmg.com