What Is a Peer-Reviewed Scientific Publication?

Written by: Don Otter, 4Life Health Science Advisory Board member

There is a lot of noise out there telling you, “This is good for you,” “Buy that,” “Don’t eat this.” But what sources can you trust? Google, Facebook, your favorite TV show, newspapers, your friends? With so much information, finding reliable sources can be challenging.

This blog will share the process we use at 4Life to ensure that all our products are top-quality before they reach you. One of our 4Life values is Satisfaction, and we hold our products to very high standards here at 4Life.

The gold standard for any product study is a peer-reviewed scientific publication. That’s a long title, so we’ll break it down for you.

What is a scientific publication?

A scientific publication is simply research that a scientist publishes and shares. It’s how scientists share their research with the scientific community. These scientific papers allow other scientists to review the author’s research so scientists can build on each other's work. Thus, the peer-review process subjects an author’s scholarly work, research, and ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field (peers). It may not be fun to have your work analyzed and criticized, but that means the finished study and research are much better. Lots of heads are better than one!

What is required for a peer-reviewed scientific publication?

Let’s look at a recent 4Life example to show what is required for a peer-reviewed publication. When scientists at the Department of Pathology in the University of Louisville decided to investigate the benefits of 4Life Transfer Factor^®, they designed a series of experiments.¹

After the scientists completed their research, they analyzed the results and wrote up the experiment, their methods, and their conclusions.

And their work was just getting started! The scientists then submitted the manuscript to the editor of a reputable journal. The editor selected 2−3 independent experts in the field of immunology to review the entire manuscript. These reviewers sent back comments and suggestions to the original authors. Once the authors applied this feedback and made edits, the manuscript was published.

Using this rigorous method, the reported results have been critically evaluated by a number of independent scientific peers prior to the publication of this important data. This very strict process ensures that the research is of a high quality and can be trusted. See? It’s not easy to get a peer-reviewed paper published, but it boosts the credibility of the study so much!

At 4Life, we always aim to use the peer-reviewed scientific publication process for our research to give all our users complete confidence in our products.*

For a look at all of 4Life’s peer-reviewed publications, click here.

Sources:

¹Vetvicka V and Vetvickova J. Antigen-Specific Immunomodulatory Effects of Transfer Factor. Austin J Clin Pathol. 2020; 7(1): 1062.