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How we write our guides

Our guides for parents are written by the Tala team, the people who make Tala. Here is how we decide what to say, and how you can check our work.

Which sources we trust

We look for the strongest evidence we can find, in this order:

  • reviews that pool many studies (meta-analyses and systematic reviews),
  • large studies and randomized trials,
  • official guidelines, such as those from the WHO, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC,
  • then single studies, with their limits stated.

Every guide cites at least five sources. We don’t cite blogs, sales pages or other articles that only summarize research.

How we check every claim

  • We open each source and confirm its authors, year, title and journal.
  • We check that the finding we describe is really in it, at the strength we describe.
  • We check that every journal link leads to the right paper.
  • We keep a note of which source supports which sentence.
  • If we can’t confirm a claim, we leave it out.

Every number in a guide comes from a source, and the citation sits on that sentence. Click any small number in a guide to jump to its source.

How we show the strength of the evidence

When studies only show that two things go together, we say “linked with”, not “causes”. We say when a study was small, short or done in one place. Each guide has a box called “How strong is the evidence?” for the places where research is mixed or weaker than headlines suggest.

How we write

We write in plain English for busy parents, many of whom read English as a second language: short sentences, everyday words and one idea per paragraph. Advice comes first, then the reason.

What our guides are not

Our guides are general information, not medical, psychological or professional advice. For anything about your own child’s health, sleep, development or behavior, talk to your pediatrician or another qualified professional.

Guides are not ads. Tala is mentioned at most once, near the end, and only where it fits the topic.

Updates and corrections

Each guide shows the date it was last updated. If you spot an error or a better source, email help@tala.kids. A real person reads every message, and we fix confirmed errors and update the date.