Q. What is About.com?

A. Founded in 1996, About.com is a leading online source for original consumer information and advice. Part of The New York Times Co., the site provides depth and breadth behind current topics, keeping up with new information and changing consumer interests.  About.com adds more than 3,000 new content items each week and approximately ten new topics each month.

Q. Who writes the content on About.com?

A. Content on About.com is written by a network of more than 570 Guides. Each Guide is selectively recruited, rigorously trained, and regularly reviewed by our editorial staff. Our Guides are passionate about their topic areas, and have deep experience and credentials in their fields. For example, Dr. Richard Fogoros, About.com’s Guide to Heart Disease, is a former professor of medicine, and a longtime practitioner, researcher and author in the fields of cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology.

Details on the credentials of all of About.com’s Guides can be found on their individual GuideSites.

Q. How is the content reviewed?

A. About.com has strict editorial guidelines for all of the content that appears on its site. All content on About.com is overseen by a team of editors, who assess materials for relevance and accuracy.

New health content on About.com is reviewed and checked for accuracy by a group of physicians and a medical director, who is also an M.D. About.com has also received the Health On the Net Foundation’s Code of Conduct certification (HONcode©), which identifies About.com as an internationally reliable source of health information and denotes that About.com provides accurate and authoritative information and transparency, such as a clear delineation of advertising and editorial content.

About.com readers are encouraged to contact the Guides directly should they have questions regarding any of the content they read on a GuideSite.

Q. How is About.com different from Wikipedia?

A. Wikipedia and About.com have different approaches to ensuring the credibility of the information provided on their sites.

Wikipedia consists of user generated reference content which is overseen entirely by the site’s community and can be edited by anyone who has access to a computer. Accuracy of an entry is dependent on the knowledge of the contributor(s) and the ability of the community to make updates and changes.

Unlike Wikipedia, About.com’s content is written entirely by professional Guides who are experts in their particular topic and who receive editorial supervision and guidance. About.com Guides use their insight and experience to help readers solve a problem, answer a question, or make a decision.