Editorial Standards
for Virtual Hospital and Virtual Children's Hospital

Virtual Hospital and Virtual Children's Hospital content comes from faculty and staff affiliated with University of Iowa Health Care, which includes the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Many of these individuals are physician teachers who prepare doctors and other health care professionals at both a medical school level and residency and fellowship training levels. Many are also clinicians, providing care to patients in the fields about which they have written. Finally, many of our authors are also researchers, helping to advance knowledge in medical disciplines and to pioneer new techniques for curing disease and easing suffering. Our list of titles by author will acquaint you with the hundreds who have assisted in preparing our digital library of health information.

Who reviews the information?

Virtual Hospital and Virtual Children's Hospital content is peer reviewed once it is submitted by an author. Title pages for each of our books and booklets will list the work's peer review status. "Internally peer reviewed," means that one or more members of an author's academic department have reviewed and added comments to the work. "Externally peer reviewed" means that an outside source, such as an academic journal or textbook publisher has had the work reviewed by experts in the field.

What role do sponsors have in the content of Virtual Hospital?

None. Sponsors of Virtual Hospital and Virtual Children's Hospital over the years have provided equipment and staff salary support. Content creation has been the sole responsibility of faculty authors. A small number of Continuing Medical Education courses were supported by unrestricted education grants from commercial concerns, with no ties to the editorial outcome of the faculty member's work in each case.

Why can't I have my specific health questions answered individually by someone at Virtual Hospital?

Virtual Hospital is a digital health library--a storehouse of easy-to-access information from very reliable sources. The best person to address your specific health questions is your own health care provider. Due to many legal and ethical restrictions, Virtual Hospital and its authors do not practice medicine over the Web. You may take comfort in knowing that many of the patient education features that are part of Virtual Hospital have been developed with typical patient questions in mind. Health information received on the Internet is not meant to substitute for the valuable care and advice you can receive from your own health care provider.

How up to date is your information?

Content on Virtual Hospital and Virtual Children's Hospital is updated daily. You may wish to check What's New on our sites for the latest titles that have been added to our library. It is our policy to list on the front page of each book and booklet the date that the information originated and the date it was last revised. We rely on our authors to keep us informed of changes in their fields of practice that might necessitate a change in the content we publish. If you are concerned about the timeliness of information you see on Virtual Hospital, please send us a correction form with your concerns, being specific about which page(s) and fact(s) may be in need of updating.

How do I respond to correct errors of fact, proofreading errors or other problems I might see on a page?

Please send us a correction form with your suggestions, being specific about which page(s) and fact(s) may be in need of review.

All contents copyright © 1992-2004 the Author(s) and The University of Iowa. All rights reserved.

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