Editorial integrity
What makes a review on Scratch trustworthy.
Reviews you can act on require structural commitments — not just promises — about who pays whom, what gets published, and what gets disclosed.
Reviewers are paid by Scratch — never by manufacturers.
We pay reviewers an hourly rate for their time. Manufacturers never pay them — directly or indirectly — for content. Every review carries a visible disclosure saying so.
Reviews are never for sale.
No manufacturer tier — Listed, Verified, or Channel — buys positive reviews, better ratings, removal of criticism, or any influence on review content. Editorial and commercial are separated by policy and by code.
Every review discloses its conflicts of interest.
Each review discloses whether the reviewer received any compensation, training, samples, speaking fees, or research support tied to the product or its manufacturer in the past 24 months — even when the answer is "none".
Reviewers are credentialed and verified.
US clinicians are verified against the public NPPES NPI registry; international clinicians against their registry (UK GMC, Australian AHPRA) or institutional email. Unverified accounts can’t publish.
Reviews lock 24 hours after publishing.
Reviewers can fix mistakes within 24 hours of publishing. After that the review locks; later corrections get an editor’s note, not a silent edit.
Scratch is independent.
Not owned by, affiliated with, or financially aligned with any manufacturer, GPO, hospital system, or trade group. Funding sources are disclosed.
What this means in practice
We don’t hide positive reviews — or critical ones.
A Verified or Channel manufacturer might have mostly positive reviews, or mixed and critical ones. Read the COI disclosures, weigh the credentials, and judge for yourself. Our job is to make sure nothing structural tips the balance.
Reporting an issue
Think a review is inaccurate, has undisclosed COI, or is otherwise problematic? Flag it on the review or email editorial@onescratch.com. We respond to every report.