Corrections Policy
Accuracy matters especially in sexual health because a wrong statement can influence testing, treatment, contraception or urgent-care decisions. Openlywell should make it easy for readers and professionals to report a possible error and should prioritise corrections according to potential health impact.
A correction process should distinguish a typo from a clinical error. Minor punctuation or formatting changes can be fixed silently. A substantive error that changes the meaning of a medical recommendation, risk statement or urgent-care instruction should be corrected promptly and transparently.
Corrections also include outdated guidance. A statement can become wrong even if it was accurate when first published. Openlywell therefore needs source monitoring and review dates rather than relying only on reader reports.
How to report an issue
A correction form should ask for the page URL, the sentence or section of concern, the reason and any supporting source. Readers should be told not to include unnecessary personal medical information.
Clinical triage
Reports involving emergency guidance, medicine dosing, contraindications, pregnancy or STI treatment should be reviewed faster than cosmetic or style issues.
Verification
Editors should check the original source and, when the issue is clinical, involve the appropriate medical reviewer before changing the meaning.
Visible correction notes
If an earlier version could have materially misled readers, add a brief correction note explaining what changed and the date. Do not publish a long defensive statement.
Update dates
Meaningful revisions should update the modified date. Automated formatting changes should not falsely make old content appear newly medically reviewed.
Retiring content
When an article cannot be safely updated, remove it from publication or redirect to a current replacement rather than leaving unsupported advice live.
Practical context and next steps
This corrections policy page is part of Openlywell’s trust framework. Readers should be able to understand not only the information itself but also how it is created, reviewed and corrected. The sections on how to report an issue and clinical triage make the standard visible rather than asking users to trust a health website simply because it looks professional.
The policy should be implemented in the product, not left as aspirational copy. CMS fields, permissions, review dates and visible author/reviewer profiles should reflect what this page promises. If the operational process changes, the published policy should be updated so the website and the real workflow remain consistent.
Transparency is especially important for sexual-health information because users may be making private decisions about testing, contraception, symptoms or relationships. Clear limits reduce the chance that a reader mistakes general education for personalised care. Related pages such as Editorial Policy, Medical Review Policy, Contact should use the same trust standard.
Questions such as “How do I report an error?” and “Will every spelling correction get a public note?” belong in a visible FAQ because readers should not have to infer how Openlywell works. Policy language should stay plain, specific and verifiable rather than making broad claims such as “always accurate,” “completely confidential” or “medically approved” when those claims cannot be demonstrated.
A decision checklist for this topic
Before acting on anything you read here, run through this short check.
Before acting on information about corrections policy, make a short personal checklist. What exactly are you trying to prevent, understand or improve? Is the issue new or longstanding? Are there symptoms, pain, bleeding, pregnancy possibility, recent exposures, medicines or health conditions that change the decision? Which parts of the page — especially How to report an issue, Clinical triage, Verification — apply directly to you, and which are only background information? This approach reduces the chance of taking one sentence out of context or assuming that a common possibility is automatically your diagnosis.
If you are still uncertain after reading, use the questions on this page to decide the next step rather than continuing to search indefinitely. Common starting questions include: How do I report an error?; Will every spelling correction get a public note?; What if a medical guideline changes?. Write down the answer you already know and what remains unknown. Then use Editorial Policy, Medical Review Policy, Contact or an appropriate healthcare professional to fill the gap. Seeking care is especially important when the missing information depends on examination, a laboratory test, prescription treatment, pregnancy-specific advice or urgent timing.
When to get professional or urgent help
•Do not rely on a correction request to obtain urgent medical advice. Use an appropriate healthcare service instead.
Safety note: If symptoms are severe, rapidly worsening or described above as urgent, use the appropriate local emergency or same-day healthcare service rather than waiting for an online answer.
Questions & Clear Answers
Use the correction form or contact route and include the article URL.
References & Sources
Openlywell articles are compiled with reference to published guidance from international public-health authorities, professional colleges and peer-reviewed literature.
- [1]WHO — Defining sexual health