Research Library Guides
Plain-language guides to reading the library: what its records are, how strong different kinds of evidence are, how connections are made and what the traditional sources can and cannot tell you.
What would you like help understanding?
Safety first
- A record or connection in the library is not a treatment recommendation.
- Research in cells or animals does not show an effect in people.
- Talk with a clinician before using any herb, supplement or therapy, especially with medicines or health conditions.
Overview
What the guides are for
The Research Library holds a very large number of imported records. The guides explain how to read them. They are explainers about research methods and the library's own labels, not health advice. Each guide defines its terms and shows what a type of record or study can and cannot show.Why guides matter: the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes that health information includes anecdotes disguised as evidence and excessive claims, and offers tools to help readers be discerning. [1] The guides here follow the same spirit.
Start here
- How to Use the Research Library: five questions to start with and a map of the collections.
- How to Read Research Library Records: where a record comes from, what its status means and what a connection shows.
- Evidence Labels and Verification Status: the difference between imported, editorially checked and clinically reviewed.
- Research Library Glossary: plain definitions of research terms.
Understanding evidence
- Evidence Types and Study Designs covers systematic reviews through laboratory studies.
- Registered Trials, Protocols and Completed Studies explains why a registration is not a result.
- Human, Animal and Laboratory Research compares what each can show.
- Retractions, Corrections and Duplicate Reports explains how errors are handled.
Connections, genes and sources
- Relationship Types in the Knowledge Graph explains the kinds of links.
- Genes and Biomarkers explains what they can and cannot show.
- Traditional and Historical Sources and Traditional Formulas explain how historical material is treated.
- Data Sources, Licensing and Limits and Citing and Exporting Library Records cover provenance and reuse.
Keep three things apart
As you read, separate scientific evidence, traditional or historical use, and editorial interpretation. Animal and cell research is not human evidence, and a registered study is not a result. Null, mixed and adverse findings matter as much as positive ones.The library shows connections and does not rate effectiveness. It holds imported records that have not been reviewed by a clinician. For safety questions, see Natural Remedy Safety, and return to the Research Library home for the collections.
Explore Research Library Guides
Start Here(2)How to use the library and read its records.
- How to Use the Research Library: What Has Been Studied, What Was Used Traditionally and How Strong Is the Evidence
A plain-language map of the Research Library: five starting questions, where each one leads, and how to keep studied, traditional and proven apart as you read.
- How to Read Research Library Records: Sources, Status and What a Connection Means
How to read a Research Library record: where its information came from, what its status means, and why a connection between two records is a pointer, not a finding.
Evidence & Study Records(5)Study designs, registered vs completed studies, human vs animal research, labels and corrections.
- Evidence Types and Study Designs: From Systematic Reviews to Laboratory Studies
A plain guide to eleven kinds of health research, from systematic reviews to laboratory and animal studies, and what each one can and cannot tell you about a remedy.
- Registered Trials, Protocols and Completed Studies: Why a Registration Is Not a Result
Why a registered clinical trial or review protocol is a plan, not a result, and how to read trial status, phase and multiple reports from the same study.
- Human, Animal and Laboratory Research: What Each Can Show
What research in people, in animals and in cells can and cannot show, why early results often do not carry over, and what the Research Library's model labels mean.
- Evidence Labels and Verification Status: Imported, Extracted, Editorially Checked and Clinically Reviewed
What the Research Library's verification labels mean, why imported is not the same as checked, and why no label here is an endorsement or a medical review.
- Retractions, Corrections and Duplicate Reports
How retractions, expressions of concern, corrections, preprints and duplicate reports work, and how to check a study before relying on it.
Knowledge Graph & Entities(2)How connections are made, and what genes and biomarkers can and cannot show.
- Relationship Types in the Knowledge Graph and What They Mean
What the links between herbs, compounds, genes, conditions and studies in the Research Library mean, where each kind comes from, and why a link is not a finding.
- Genes and Biomarkers: What They Can and Cannot Show
How to read gene and biomarker records in the Research Library: official gene symbols, what a biomarker is, why gene activity is not a treatment effect, and why lab rang…
Traditions, Formulas & Remedies(3)Historical sources, traditional formulas and what a remedy record is.
- Traditional and Historical Sources: How the Library Treats Ancient Texts and Traditional Knowledge
How to read records drawn from ancient texts and traditional knowledge: quotation, translation, uncertain plant names, community rights, and why tradition is not proof.
- Traditional Formulas: Historical Records, Modern Preparations and Why Similar Names Differ
Why a traditional formula name can mean a recorded recipe, a standardized modern preparation or a commercial product, and what that means for reading formula records in …
- Remedies: What a Remedy Record Is and How It Differs From Ingredients, Formulas and Therapies
What the word remedy means, how it differs from ingredients, formulas and therapies, and why a remedy name is not evidence that a preparation works.
Reference(3)Glossary, data sources and limits, and how to cite records.
- Research Library Glossary
Plain definitions of research terms used in the Research Library, from meta-analysis and placebo to biomarker, pharmacokinetics and phenotype, with what each can and can…
- Data Sources, Licensing and Limits of the Library
Where Research Library records come from, what imported data can and cannot tell you, how abstracts and licenses limit reuse, and what the library does not contain.
- Citing and Exporting Library Records
How to cite a Research Library record and, more importantly, the original study behind it, using DOI and PubMed ID, and what to check before you quote or reuse a record.
Research connections
Our pages cite the studies and official sources behind each statement. For the underlying records, see the evidence page for this goal and the Research Library.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the guides written for?
Both general readers who want plain explanations and advanced readers who want to understand how records and study types are labeled.
Are the guides medical advice?
No. They explain research methods and library labels. They do not recommend any product or treatment.
Why does the library not rate evidence?
The library shows connections between records and study records. It does not rate effectiveness, and a record with many connections is not better studied or more effective.
What should I read first?
Start with How to Use the Research Library, then How to Read Research Library Records. Use the glossary for unfamiliar words.
Have the guides been medically reviewed?
No page here claims medical review. Each guide cites its sources so you can check them.
References
- NCCIH, Know the Science. Know the Science. Read 2026-10-22.
Content last updated . This section has not been medically reviewed.