Editorial Methodology & Sources

Who writes RiseUpToHIV

Kevin, a person living with HIV for 16+ years in Tampa Bay, FL, directs the site’s editorial work and is responsible for revisions and corrections. Read About RiseUpToHIV for his background and the project’s history.

Our editorial task is to translate clinical, epidemiological, and policy sources into plain language for people living with HIV, newly diagnosed people, partners, caregivers, and advocates.

Our sourcing tiers

We use a tiered sourcing policy to keep clinical accuracy anchored to primary sources and to keep advocacy and lived-experience voices in context.

Tier 1 — Primary sources

For clinical and public-health claims, we prioritize current official guidance, original research, and surveillance reports. We check the population, study design, reporting year, and limitations against the claim being made. The treatment, prevention, and testing source lists provide starting points.

Tier 2 — Authoritative advocacy and policy organizations

We identify an organization’s perspective when citing its policy analysis, advocacy, or program information. Such sources can explain access barriers and policy positions; they do not replace primary evidence for clinical claims. Browse the community and policy and legal-resource directories.

Tier 3 — Community and lived-experience publications

Community publications and personal narratives provide lived experience, cultural context, and historical reporting. We distinguish those perspectives from clinical evidence and anchor clinical or epidemiological facts to primary sources. See the history and community publications in the source library.

Mainstream press

Mainstream journalism is used for context only and is verified against a primary source before we make any factual claim from it.

What we do not cite

We do not cite Wikipedia. It is useful as background reading but not as a source for RiseUpToHIV articles. Any Wikipedia-derived claim is replaced with a primary or authoritative source before publication.

How often articles are reviewed

Every clinical, treatment, prevention, and epidemiology article on RiseUpToHIV carries a "Last reviewed" date. We review:

Clinical and treatment articles — reviewed at least every 12 months, and immediately when major guidance changes (for example, FDA approvals of new HIV medications, DHHS guideline updates, breastfeeding guidance changes, ADAP formulary changes).
Epidemiology and Florida-specific articles — reviewed when CDC HIV Surveillance Reports, AIDSVu updates, or Florida Department of Health data are released, typically once per year.
Policy and funding articles — reviewed at least every 6 months, and immediately after major federal budget actions (PEPFAR reauthorization, Ryan White funding, Medicaid rule changes).
Historical and biographical articles — reviewed when new scholarship, obituaries, or archival materials require correction, otherwise annually.
Common Questions — reviewed alongside the corresponding clinical article they support.

Review and update dates should be read alongside any note describing the scope of the work. A targeted update may cover only selected sections. A date does not guarantee that every statement or external link was independently verified, or that an independent clinician reviewed the page.

Corrections policy

If you spot a factual error, a broken link, an outdated statistic, an outdated medication brand name, or language we should update, please tell us. Corrections are the fastest way to make RiseUpToHIV more accurate for the next person who reads it.

To report a correction, use the contact form. Include:

The page URL where you found the error
The specific sentence or claim you're flagging
A source we can check against (if you have one)

Substantive corrections are logged with the date the correction was made and, when appropriate, noted in a "Corrections" line at the bottom of the article.

Person-first, plain language

We write for real people, in plain language, with warmth and dignity and zero stigma. That shapes vocabulary choices throughout the site:

We use people living with HIV, PLHIV, person newly diagnosed, and mixed-status couple.
We avoid victim, infected person, HIV patient as an identity, high-risk group, clean, compliance, and suffering from HIV.
We describe behaviors and situations, not identities, when talking about risk.
We prioritize U=U — Undetectable equals Untransmittable in every article where relevant.

These aren't stylistic preferences. Stigma is a barrier to care, and language is one of the levers we control.

National scope, Florida focus

RiseUpToHIV covers HIV information at national scope with a Florida focus. Florida-specific callouts appear on articles where a real, supportable local angle exists: ADAP eligibility and formulary changes, county-level HIV data, Ryan White Part B in Florida, DOH clinic locations, criminalization statutes, and community-based organizations. When we include a Florida callout, it is anchored to a primary Florida Department of Health, HRSA, or NASTAD source.

Editorial independence and funding

RiseUpToHIV is an independent HIV education project. Content is not written for, sponsored by, or reviewed by pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurance companies, or clinical service providers.

Practical resource links do not give the listed organizations editorial influence. Kevin’s personal and pharmaceutical-work disclosures are on About; Support explains ways to help fund the site.

Use of AI assistance

AI is a primary research, writing, and web-development tool for this project. The full AI disclosure identifies the tools and explains Kevin’s editorial control; this section describes how AI-assisted material is checked.

Drafts go through revisions and re-checks against the cited sources. Unsupported material is revised or removed. The evidence must support the specific claim, population, and date being discussed.

AI output is not evidence, and agreement between tools does not establish accuracy. These checks do not amount to independent clinical review of every page. The corrections process explains how to flag a problem.

Not medical advice

Our sourcing process supports education, not individual medical advice. See the medical disclaimer and urgent-help information before relying on the site for a care decision.

How to cite this page

RiseUpToHIV. (2026). Editorial Methodology & Sources. Retrieved from https://riseuptohiv.com/how-we-source.html. Last reviewed by RiseUpToHIV.