A status word is only useful if it was defined before it was applied. This is the complete list. Nothing outside it is used, and no status contains a number, a score or a rating, because a claim is not the sort of thing that has a percentage.
The vocabulary
| Word | What it records | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| Established | Supported by regulation, by a standard, or by published evidence that we can point to. | Established |
| Qualified | Holds, but only under conditions that the claim as stated leaves out. | Qualified |
| Unresolved | A real question with incomplete evidence. Neither supported nor refuted at present. | Unresolved |
| Unsupported | We have located no published evidence that would support it. That is not the same as refuted. | Unsupported |
| Misattributed | Describes something real, but assigns it to the wrong cause or the wrong mechanism. | Misattributed |
| Contradicted | Published evidence or regulation points the other way. | Contradicted |
How a status is reached
Every claim block on this site has the same four parts before the status: the claim as the category states it, what would have to be true for it to hold, what is actually established, and what is not. The status is a summary of those four parts and never carries information that is not in them. If you disagree with a status, the argument is directly above it and you can see exactly where the disagreement lies.
What a status is not
- It is not a verdict on a product. This publication names no brand and no product and assesses none. A status applies to a claim, wherever it is made.
- It is not a score. There is no ranking, no rating and no number.
- It is not permanent. Statuses change when evidence changes, and a change is recorded with the date and the reason.
- It is not for sale. No advertiser, sponsor or register entrant can influence a status. That is stated in what we refuse to sell and it is the reason this publication takes no money from anyone in this category.
Why the vocabulary contains no numbers
Because a number implies a measurement, and there is no measurement here. What there is is a reading of an evidence base, made explicit so it can be checked. A confidence percentage would give that reading a precision it does not have, and would invite comparison between claims that are not commensurable.
The distinction that does the most work
Between unsupported and contradicted. Unsupported means no evidence was located that would support the claim, which is not the same as evidence that it is false. Contradicted means published evidence or regulation points the other way. A great many claims in this category are unsupported and very few are contradicted, and treating the first as though it were the second would be exactly the sort of overstatement this publication objects to elsewhere.
Unresolved sits apart from both. It marks a question that is real, is being worked on, and has not been settled. Whether mineral formulations are safer in aggregate is the clearest example, and it is examined in is mineral sunscreen safer.
Corrections
If you can show that a status is wrong, write to us with the evidence and we will change it and say that we have. Corrections are published with a visible note rather than made silently. The address is on the contact page.