STAT is committed to the open exchange of ideas. We encourage readers to converse with each other about the articles we publish and to offer opinions based on facts and personal experiences. Please be courteous and refrain from using insults, personal attacks, and profanity.
STAT reserves the right to remove comments that contain:
- Insults
- Threats or personal attacks against STAT staff, other commenters, subjects of stories, or other people
- Slurs
- Expressions of bigotry, racism, discrimination, or hatred, or those that stigmatize groups of people
- Bullying content
- Profanity or vulgarity
- Pornography
- Spam
- Material copyrighted by others
- Impersonations of someone else
- Solely promotional content
- Multiple links to other websites
- Non-factual information or links to websites promoting misinformation
Note: Comments with links will be pre-moderated to verify the veracity or trustworthiness of the links.
Frequently asked questions
Who can comment on STAT articles?
Anyone who has registered with STAT can comment on an article.
Why does STAT ask commenters to register?
We have found that people who register carry on more engaging and respectful conversations.
Do you edit comments?
No. Comments are either approved or rejected.
Are comments ever removed?
Yes. STAT reserves the right to remove comments that don’t meet the standards listed above. If you feel a comment on our site violates these standards, you can report it for review by STAT moderators.
Are people ever restricted or banned from commenting?
They can be. STAT reserves the right to pre-moderate all comments from an individual who has previously violated this comment policy, and to ban an individual who, after having been warned by email, continues to violate the comment policy.