Editorial and Evidence Policy

Last updated: July 24, 2026.

Board Pearls is a board review platform for practicing physicians and physicians in training. This page describes how our clinical content is written, sourced, reviewed, updated, and corrected, and the limits of its intended use. It exists so that both readers and search engines can judge how the material is produced.

Intended audience

Board Pearls is written for licensed physicians and physicians in training who are preparing for the ABIM Gastroenterology or Internal Medicine examinations, and for clinicians using the material for continuing education. It is written for a clinical audience, not as a patient education resource. It assumes clinical training and the judgment that comes with it.

Clinical disclaimer

The content on Board Pearls is educational. It is intended to support board preparation and knowledge review. It is not medical advice, it is not a substitute for clinical judgment, and it must not be used to direct the care of any individual patient. Drug doses, thresholds, and management steps are presented for study and can contain errors or become outdated. Always confirm against the current primary guideline, the regulatory label, and institutional policy before acting on any clinical decision. Board Pearls and its authors accept no liability for clinical decisions made in reliance on this material.

How content is sourced

Board Pearls content is authored from primary sources, not from secondary textbooks:

• Society guidelines from the ACG, AGA, AASLD, and ASGE.
• Pivotal randomized trials, major cohort studies, and systematic reviews.
• Regulatory labels for drugs and devices where dosing or indications are discussed.

Chapters are organized by clinical decision workflow rather than by textbook chapter order. Primary sources for each chapter are listed in that chapter's References section rather than cited mid sentence.

Evidence hierarchy

Where sources conflict or evidence is limited, we prioritize in this order:

1. Current society guideline recommendations.
2. High quality randomized trials and systematic reviews.
3. Large observational studies.
4. Expert consensus and common practice, labeled as such.

We aim to distinguish a firm guideline recommendation from expert interpretation, common practice, and emerging evidence, and to describe genuine uncertainty rather than manufacture certainty where the literature does not support it.

Review and update cadence

Guidelines change, and board relevant content changes with them. Chapters are reviewed and revised when a governing guideline is updated, when a practice changing trial is published, or when a reader reports an error. Material updates are reflected in the chapter itself and, for guideline shifts, in the accompanying audio.

Corrections and feedback

We want to hear about errors. If you believe a fact, dose, threshold, or citation is wrong or out of date, email [email protected] with the chapter and the specific claim. Substantiated corrections are prioritized and applied to the affected chapter and any related audio.

Scope limits

Board Pearls covers the material tested on the boards for the specialties it lists as live. It is not a complete reference for every clinical scenario, and it does not attempt to replace primary guidelines, UpToDate style references, or specialist consultation. Where a topic falls outside board scope, we say so rather than pad the material.