Editorial Standards

Inclusion Requirements

Varia's V1 catalog stays intentionally small. The retained set covers 64 variants across 6 health areas, and new entries are expected to clear the same gate before they appear in the public product. See the Variant Catalog for the full accepted list.

1. Multiple-independent-source requirement. At least two papers from separately-authored teams published in Tier 1 or Tier 2 journals. Single-paper findings, even when that paper claims internal replication across cohorts, wait for an independent second publication.
2. 180-day Watch period. A new SNP candidate first appearing in literature does not enter the database the same review cycle. It sits on the Watch list for 180 days while additional evidence accumulates. After 180 days, if the multi-source requirement is met and no concerning challenges have surfaced, the variant is promoted to merge-candidates in the next monthly review.
3. Domain fit. The variant fits within one of Varia's curated health areas. New domain additions are a deliberate product decision, not a content decision.
4. Insight language conformance. Varia's insight-language rules: "associated with" not "causes"; "research suggests" not "proven"; "discuss with your physician" for high or moderate findings; never "you should," "you must," "diagnose," "treat," "prescribe," "clinical-grade," or "medical advice."

Scope Discipline

Curation is the whole point. Out of every association that gets published, Varia keeps only the smaller set that clears explicit rules for sources, wording, and review timing. If you want the scan mechanics, The Genome page covers them; for the named reference bodies behind the curation, see the Sources page.

How the Pipeline Works

Varia grades variants with published rules that humans write and software applies consistently. Four graders handle different finding types, and automated checks watch ClinVar, medication guidelines, retractions, and related authorities on a published schedule.

Residual Human Contribution (Quantified)

Varia publishes how much human work remains: 32 PMID fixes reviewed by hand; 15 conflict summaries for split literature; 12 medication-response retiers; 9 authority disagreements reconciled (1.9% of graded entries); 628 citation annotations under human-authored voice rules. Bootstrap threshold cases are logged as algorithm-default, not a standing queue. Details are on the Methodology page.

Override Surface

When the rules cannot settle a case on their own, Varia records what happens next: either the conservative default stands, or the case goes to the monthly review surface where the decision is visible. Every call is on the record.

Many risk estimates come from studies where most participants had European ancestry. Varia treats those findings as ancestry-sensitive: wider uncertainty when the science is less representative of your background, not one constant for everyone.

Tier 1

Tier 1 sources are the journals Varia treats as trusted enough to cite without hesitation. The dated list below is generated from the same source registry that powers the Sources page.

Dates next to a source mean the link and identity were verified on that date: the URL still resolved, and the named source still matched. They are not dates of editorial review of the papers in that journal.

• Nature (Nature): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Nature Medicine (Nat Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Nature Genetics (Nat Genet): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Nature Communications (Nat Commun): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Nature Neuroscience (Nat Neurosci): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Nature Aging (Nat Aging): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Nature Immunology (Nat Immunol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cell (Cell): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cell Metabolism (Cell Metab): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cell Reports (Cell Rep): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Science (Science): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Science Translational Medicine (Sci Transl Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM): Code-level Tier 1 anchor journal used for top-tier clinical literature in the editorial grader and source discipline. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Lancet (Lancet): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Lancet Neurology (Lancet Neurol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology (Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Lancet Healthy Longevity (Lancet Healthy Longev): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• JAMA (JAMA): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• JAMA Neurology (JAMA Neurol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• JAMA Cardiology (JAMA Cardiol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• JAMA Internal Medicine (JAMA Intern Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• JAMA Network Open (JAMA Netw Open): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• BMJ (BMJ): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Circulation (Circulation): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Circulation Research (Circ Res): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Circulation: Genomics and Precision Medicine (Circ Genom Precis Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• European Heart Journal (Eur Heart J): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Brain (Brain): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Neuron (Neuron): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Diabetes (Diabetes): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Diabetologia (Diabetologia): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Diabetes Care (Diabetes Care): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• American Journal of Human Genetics (Am J Hum Genet): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Genetics in Medicine (Genet Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Alzheimer's & Dementia (Alzheimers Dement): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Endocrine Reviews (Endocr Rev): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Immunity (Immunity): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of Experimental Medicine (J Exp Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Annals of Internal Medicine (Ann Intern Med): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Annals of Neurology (Ann Neurol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cancer Research (Cancer Res): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cancer Discovery (Cancer Discov): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Clinical Cancer Research (Clin Cancer Res): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cancer Cell (Cancer Cell): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Annals of Oncology (Ann Oncol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Lancet Oncology (Lancet Oncol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• JAMA Oncology (JAMA Oncol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Arthritis & Rheumatology (Arthritis Rheumatol): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (Ann Rheum Dis): Tier 1 journal on Varia's citable-source allowlist; findings from this venue are eligible for direct citation. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Blood (Blood): Tier 1 hematology flagship journal, admitted 2026-08-18 on the same field-flagship basis as Circulation and Diabetes; grounds the thrombophilia evidence set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.

Tier 2

Tier 2 sources are still usable, but they get closer scrutiny before they are turned into user-facing claims:

• PLOS Genetics (PLOS Genet): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid but not grounded in the Tier 1 anchor set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• PLOS Medicine (PLOS Med): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• PLOS Biology (PLOS Biol): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Genome Medicine (Genome Med): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Genome Biology (Genome Biol): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Genome Research (Genome Res): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Human Molecular Genetics (Hum Mol Genet): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Neurology (Neurology): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Molecular Neurodegeneration (Mol Neurodegener): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Neurobiology of Aging (Neurobiol Aging): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Translational Psychiatry (Transl Psychiatry): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• eLife (eLife): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Atherosclerosis (Atherosclerosis): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of Lipid Research (JLR): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Aging Cell (Aging Cell): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Pharmacogenetics and Genomics (Pharmacogenet Genomics): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (CPT): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Acta Neuropathologica (Acta Neuropathol): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• British Journal of Cancer (Br J Cancer): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• International Journal of Cancer (Int J Cancer): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (Breast Cancer Res Treat): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of Autoimmunity (J Autoimmun): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Arthritis Research & Therapy (Arthritis Res Ther): Tier 2 journal accepted for citation when the evidence base is solid, with slightly closer editorial review than the Tier 1 set. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18. Papers on the PNAS contributed submission track receive the same closer review as other Tier 2 sources. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Journal of Clinical Investigation (J Clin Invest): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18 for clinical investigation literature that meets Varia's source-caliber rules. Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Am J Clin Nutr): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18 for nutrition-genetics primary studies (sprint 75 D8 ruling). Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (Br J Clin Pharmacol): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18 for clinical-pharmacology primary studies (sprint 75 D8 ruling). Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Biological Psychiatry (Biol Psychiatry): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18 for psychiatry research primary studies (sprint 75 D8 ruling). Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Human Genetics (Hum Genet): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18 for human-genetics primary studies (sprint 75 D8 ruling). Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.
• Fertility and Sterility (Fertil Steril): Tier 2 journal admitted 2026-08-18 RESTRICTED to reproductive-SNP primary findings; citations on non-reproductive claims stay untiered (sprint 75 D8 ruling). Link and identity verified: 2026-09-07.

Tier 3 and Excluded Sources

Tier 3 sources can support Mixed evidence, Single-study, or Disputed by recent work grades under Varia's strength-grading rules. They can support Consistent only when the study has more than 50,000 participants, reaches genome-wide significance for GWAS findings, agrees in effect direction with earlier smaller studies, and carries a written rationale in the catalog.

Excluded sources do not become the main citation for a Varia claim:

• All MDPI journals (Nutrients, Cells, IJMS, Biomolecules, etc.)
• Most Frontiers family journals
• PLOS One specifically (despite PLOS Genetics/Medicine/Biology being citable)
• Hindawi journals (acquired by Wiley after paper-mill scandal; brand contaminated)
• Any journal not MEDLINE-indexed
• Conference abstracts and proceedings
• Preprints (bioRxiv/medRxiv), surface in What We're Watching only, never as primary citation until peer-reviewed publication

When a medical authority has already graded a variant, Varia shows that grade directly instead of inventing a second one. That includes ACMG classifications through ClinVar, medication guidelines through CPIC and PharmGKB (via ClinPGx), ClinGen, and PharmVar star-allele naming.

Varia's own grading applies only to common-trait risk modifiers and lifestyle traits, where no clinical authority publishes a grade. The label "Backed by Varia editorial assessment" appears only on those Varia-graded findings.

Conversation Context describes which authorities cover a finding; Conversation Priority is Varia's editorial framing of how much it warrants discussion.

Primary Citation Rules

The default rule is simple: a claim should point back to a paper, a named authority, or a hand-authored registry entry. If the support comes from an authority page rather than a paper, Varia names that authority directly and links it on the Sources page or the Institutional Authorities page.

Recommendation Boundary

Varia does not use this page to tell readers what product to buy, what supplement to take, or what treatment to start. When Varia names a biomarker or a drug class, it is naming the topic for discussion, not giving a treatment instruction.

Trigger Categories

When the published rules hit a gray zone, Varia labels it in the editorial event log: either the safe default already applied, or it belongs on the monthly review list. Nothing disappears into untracked solo judgment.

Public Log

The event log is append-only and public. You can read it in the editorial event log. Pathogenic-class alerts that sit unanswered for 14 days get an editorial override on the catalog entry; the finding card shows that override. A missed month makes routing more conservative, not silently wrong. Response-time numbers on the Methodology page are targets measured against those fail-safes.

Conflict Types

When studies disagree, Varia tags the disagreement with one of eleven named conflict types, including failed replication, effect direction reversal, heterogeneity by ancestry, phenotype, or sex, publication bias suspected, retracted or withdrawn supporting papers, expression of concern, post-publication correction, and major methodology revision.

When Varia Calls Evidence Mixed

Varia separates disagreement from thin evidence. Mixed evidence means multiple studies disagree. Single-study means the literature is still sparse. Disputed by recent work means newer evidence pushes back on an earlier consensus. Those labels matter because they change how a reader should treat the citation list.

What the Page Promises

When evidence conflicts, Varia surfaces the conflict rather than flattening it. The public-facing result is the "Evidence is mixed" callout with contradictory citations and plain-language summary text. The point is to show that conflict handling is built into the editorial system from the start.

Varia uses published rules to grade variants consistently, logs measured human editorial work, and surfaces override cases publicly. Varia does not claim the software removes all judgment, that no human ever adjudicates an override, that every grade is purely objective, or that a clinical geneticist personally reviewed your variant.

The Methodology page states plainly what Varia does and does not claim about editorial discipline.

Who Builds Varia

Varia is built by one person, Eric Gebauer, who is not a clinical geneticist or genetic counselor. Varia is not a substitute for a consultation with one. The editorial process relies on institutional authorities (ClinGen, CPIC, ClinVar, ACMG, PharmGKB, PharmVar) and a documented change-detection schedule, not on individual clinical judgment.

Citation Annotation Checks

Automated checks re-run on every build, reading the cached source papers themselves rather than trusting a stored pass mark, and a voice-consistency check runs when the writing model changes. Those checks confirm that a cited paper is about the variant it is filed under, that quoted text is the source's own words, and that an annotation does not describe a fact as missing from a paper that states it. They do not yet confirm that a paper supports the specific claim it is attached to. That verification is under way and is disclosed here rather than assumed. Independent human spot-checks of factual accuracy and of conflict-of-interest statements are not staffed yet. Varia discloses that gap here. Until those reviews are staffed, the substitutes are the automated checks, the open public audit trail, and user-feedback channels. Independent quarterly human spot-audits are queued for later reviewer engagement. There is no claim that they currently run on a schedule.

Review Metrics Publication

Review metrics are computed from the public event log and published on the Methodology page. The commitments are the fail-safes (auto-downgrade on a missed pathogenic alert, fail-closed handling of unknown file confidence). The numbers are targets reported against those mechanisms.

Authority reclassifications

Catalog-level broadcast, not a per-person email. Observation starts 2026-06-01.

• 2026-08-18: rs1799963 ClinVar germline classification changed from Likely Pathogenic to Pathogenic. Correction on Varia's side: Varia fixed which ClinVar record it reads for this variant; ClinVar itself did not change its classification.

What Readers Can Inspect

Readers can inspect the named source tiers, the named institutional authorities, the detector cadence, the public event log, the editorial grading code path, measured human editorial counts, and the markdown drafts that later turn into HTML pages. Those are the visible parts of Varia's trust promise.

What This Page Is Not

This page is not a future-content roadmap, not a list of planned variants, not a replacement for the Methodology page, and not a replacement for the Sources page. It is the short statement of how Varia decides what can be cited, what triggers review, and what the project commits to in public.