Content Policy

Last updated: June 24, 2026

ratemyresearchyear exists to give medical students and fellows an anonymous, trustworthy place to share research year experiences. This policy defines what is and is not allowed.

1. Prohibited content

The following will be removed immediately and may result in account suspension:

• Personally identifiable information: do not include names, contact details, social media handles, or any information that could identify an individual other than the PI you are reviewing.
• Defamatory statements: opinions about a PI’s research mentorship style are allowed; false statements of fact about criminal conduct or serious misconduct presented as fact (rather than opinion) are not.
• Hate speech, harassment, and threats: content targeting anyone on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics.
• Spam and off-topic content: promotional material, advertisements, or reviews that are not genuine accounts of a research year experience.

2. Borderline content

Content that is critical but factually uncertain, or that uses strong language, may be held for manual review before publication. We apply the moderation rubric consistently. If your review is held, you will not receive a specific reason (to prevent rubric gaming).

3. Moderation pipeline

1. Instant word filter: submissions are checked against a list of prohibited terms. A “block” term causes immediate rejection with a generic message. A “hold” term queues the review for manual review.
2. AI screening: queued reviews are scored against this policy by a local, self-hosted AI model running on our own private hardware. Your review is never sent to any large or commercial AI provider (such as OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic). They have no access to it. High-confidence approvals are published automatically; flagged or blocked items go to manual review.
3. Operator review: the operator reviews flagged and blocked items and makes the final decision. The operator’s decision is final.

4. What happens to your review

If your review is blocked, you will receive a generic message asking you to revise and resubmit. We will not tell you which specific term or rule triggered the block. If your review is held, it will appear as “pending” until the operator processes it.

5. Appeals

If you believe your review was incorrectly removed, email [email protected] with the subject line “Content appeal.” Appeals are reviewed by the operator; decisions are final.

6. Reporting content

If you see a published review that you believe violates this policy, use the “Report” button on the review. Reports are reviewed by the operator. Multiple reports on the same review trigger a priority review.

7. Contact

Content questions: [email protected]