Lay review guidelines

Cancer Research UK's About cancer information is written for the general public and for people with cancer and their family and friends.

You are welcome to become a lay reviewer if you have been affected by cancer. For example, you, a family member, your partner, or a close friend has had a cancer diagnosis. You must be aged 18 or older.  

About the information

Our purpose is to provide information about cancer that is available to all. The pages are written in a style that aims to be as accessible and inclusive as possible for as many people as possible.

We also aim to make the information easy to read, even for people who find reading difficult. So we deliberately use short sentences and bullet points. This breaks up the text and makes it easier to read. For the same reason, we sometimes begin sentences with 'and' and 'but'. Some people say that this is not correct grammar, but it helps to make the information clearer. We are proud to hold the Plain English Campaign Internet Crystal Mark.

Our patient information pages also display the Trusted Information Creator Kitemark (TICK). The Patient Information Forum (PIF) awards this to organisations who have passed a thorough yearly assessment. It shows that our information has met a number of different criteria and that it:

• is evidence-based and up to date
• involves users
• is easy to use

How we review our information

We aim to review every page of the website every 2 to 3 years. One of our writers reviews the information. Our information is also looked at by an external cancer specialist. For example, a consultant or dietitian who cares for people with cancer.

It's very important that our content is also looked at by lay reviewers. So people who have had direct experience of the subject of the page. For example, they have experience with a certain type of cancer, or treatment, or coping with a cancer diagnosis.

What we would like you to do

As a lay reviewer, we ask you to read the information, or look at a video or other visual content and make note of:

• the overall tone of the content
• anything you think is wrong
• anything that could be explained more clearly
• anything you think should be explained more briefly
• anything that you'd like more detail about
• any tips you have for other patients or relatives
• extra diagrams or other illustrations you think we should include - you are welcome to sketch them
• any areas that you decided not to review

Your input is very important to us. You don't need to have any medical knowledge. In fact, we prefer if you don't. Our site aims to be understandable to people who have no knowledge of medical issues or cancer care. So, it is very valuable if you are completely new to health or patient information. 

The aim is for the information to be as clear and helpful as possible to people with cancer and those close to them.

You can put aside any parts of the information that you don't want to look at. Just let us know that you haven't reviewed them. For instance, some people who have been diagnosed with an early stage cancer may not want to read about treatment for advanced cancer. We only want you to check the information that you feel comfortable with.

You are welcome to call our cancer information nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040 if you have any questions about cancer, treatment, and coping with cancer.  

You can also contact the Web information team if you have any questions about the information you are reviewing.

Please be assured that we will read and consider every comment that you make. We can't promise to include them all. Different people have different information needs and we need to balance them as best we can.

How you can help us

If you would like to become a reviewer, we can email the information to you as a word document. You can comment on the content and track your changes. 

Some pages include a video or animation. We will also send you a link for these for you to look at and comment on. Looking at the information online can be helpful as you will see how the links work. 

We can arrange to send a printed copy for you to write on and return if you prefer. 

We usually ask if you can complete the review within 6 weeks of receiving it. If you have any questions you can email us at patientinformation@cancer.org.uk. Contact details are also included with the information that we send to you.

Please tell us about any relationships or connections you have with:

• medical organisations, or
• health related committees

This information helps us decide what content to send you. 

Thank you for showing interest in becoming a lay reviewer for the Cancer Research UK patient information website. Your feedback is invaluable to us.