01
Who is responsible?
Establish authorship and determine whether the original source is attributable and accessible.
Documentation / Evaluation principles
A useful answer is one you can challenge and reproduce.
Source-checking begins with a record of where an assertion came from. Only then does it make sense to compare its wording with the underlying evidence and identify possible overstatements.
Six questions for evidence review
A framework for more disciplined reading.
02
When was it produced?
Find the relevant publication date, revisions and relationship to current guidance.
03
What kind of material is it?
Distinguish measured evidence from observation, expert commentary and promotional content.
04
Does it fit the question?
Check species, age group, studied endpoints and experimental conditions.
05
Are interests visible?
Look for funding statements and affiliations that may matter to interpretation.
06
What remains unknown?
Record uncertainties, methodological weaknesses and competing explanations.
What software may assist with
- Following public references and identifying related versions of a claim.
- Breaking complex articles into statements that can be reviewed.
- Organising a traceable set of citations for human reading.
- Comparing AI-generated summaries with source passages.
- Highlighting missing documentation rather than hiding it.
What automation cannot guarantee
AI systems can misread an article or generate a nonexistent reference. Public search cannot reveal every relevant document. A neatly formatted result may still be wrong if the underlying research is flawed.
Human oversight remains essential, particularly for health-related statements.
Designed for revision, not finality
Any sound evidence review must accommodate new findings and changes in professional consensus. The Petfood-Score approach is intended to support traceable review, not replace the scientific community or the veterinarian.
For individual feeding choices, illness or therapeutic diets, veterinary assessment is the appropriate next step.
Petfood Advisor × Pacta Labs
Have a source-verification project in mind?
Discuss the software, workflow, reference material and boundaries of a reliable information-review process.