Editorial Standards
Ask Autumn is The Change’s editorial library for clear, compassionate explanations of questions women ask while they are trying to understand perimenopause. The standards below describe the production process being tested before the library is expanded.
Who publishes Ask Autumn?
Ask Autumn articles are published by The Change. Autumn is the AI perimenopause coach inside The Change and the editorial voice used to make the information conversational. Autumn is not a human author or clinician. The Change remains responsible for the publication, its evidence links and its corrections.
Evidence hierarchy
- Major clinical organisations and current clinical guidelines.
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
- Peer-reviewed primary research.
- Reputable academic medical institutions.
Sources are opened and checked before citation. Each article keeps an evidence record that maps meaningful health claims to the source that supports them, including the source organisation, title, URL, source type, access date and the scope of support. SEO blogs, supplement companies, commercial wellness sites and unsourced secondary articles are not used as medical evidence when stronger sources are available.
Medical claims and uncertainty
Articles distinguish education, symptom association, possible mechanisms, practical suggestions, diagnostic implications, treatment information and escalation guidance. They use calibrated language such as “can,” “may” and “is associated with” where the evidence does not support certainty. They do not diagnose, prescribe or tell a reader to ignore a concerning symptom.
AI, review and accountability
AI may help with research organisation, drafting and retrieval-oriented structure. A human editorial owner checks the source links, claim boundaries, safety language, internal links, metadata and presentation before publication. No article claims medical review, doctor review or clinical approval unless a named qualified reviewer has actually performed that review.
Updates and corrections
Articles display meaningful publication and modification dates. Evidence should be revisited when important guidance changes or when a material correction is needed. Corrections should be made transparently rather than quietly obscuring a meaningful error. The date on which sources were checked is recorded separately from the article’s publication or modification date.
Education, not diagnosis
Ask Autumn helps readers understand possibilities and prepare questions for a healthcare professional. It does not determine what a symptom means for one person, replace an assessment or provide emergency care.