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Disclaimer

This disclaimer relates to PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), and Bookshelf. These three resources are scientific literature databases offered to the public by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). NLM is not a publisher, but rather collects, indexes, and archives scientific literature published by other organizations. The presence of any article, book, or document in these databases does not imply an endorsement of, or concurrence with, the contents by NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), or the U.S. Federal Government.

Please see more below about our content and how our databases relate to you.

Literature Database Content

Content in NLM literature databases may be published by academic publishers or institutions, scholarly societies, or government and non-governmental organizations. To be added to a database, a publication must apply and be selected by NLM for inclusion in MEDLINE, PMC, or Bookshelf. PubMed indexes and makes searchable the contents of these databases; MEDLINE is the primary component of PubMed. Details on the content selection processes for each database can be found at:

Once publications are selected for inclusion in a database, NLM does not review, evaluate, or judge the quality of individual articles and relies on the scientific publishing process to identify and address problems through published comments, corrections, and retractions (or, as in the case of preprints, withdrawal notices). The publisher is responsible for maintaining the currency of the scientific record and depositing all relevant updates to the appropriate NLM database. NLM literature databases also archive and index articles, author manuscripts, and book chapters that may be from publications that have not yet undergone scientific review by NLM, are traditionally out of scope for the NLM collection, or have not met NLM’s standards for inclusion in a given database if a paper is deposited under

  • The NIH Public Access Policy or a similar funder policy: NIH and other funders do not dictate where their funded authors may publish. Most records in the NLM literature databases have not been funded by the NIH or other agencies of the U.S. Federal Government.

OR

PMC and PubMed also include preprints reporting NIH-supported research in support of the NIH Preprint Pilot. As preprints are interim research products that have not been peer reviewed, readers should be aware that any aspect of the research, including the results and conclusions, may change as a result of peer review.

Liability

For documents and software available from this server, the U.S. Government does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed.

Endorsement

NLM does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes, or services. The views and opinions of authors expressed on NLM's Web sites do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government, and they may not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Some NLM Web pages may provide links to other Internet sites for the convenience of users. NLM is not responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, nor does NLM endorse, warrant, or guarantee the products, services, or information described or offered at these other Internet sites. Users cannot assume that the external sites will abide by the same Privacy Policy to which NLM adheres. It is the responsibility of the user to examine the copyright and licensing restrictions of linked pages and to secure all necessary permissions.

When visiting our Web site, your Web browser may produce pop-up advertisements. These advertisements were most likely produced by other Web sites you visited or by third party software installed on your computer. The NLM does not endorse or recommend products or services for which you may view a pop-up advertisement on your computer screen while visiting our site.

Medical Information and Advice

It is not the intention of NLM to provide specific medical advice but rather to provide users with information to better understand their health and their diagnosed disorders. Specific medical advice will not be provided, and NLM urges you to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions.