Community Guidelines
Conversations exchanged on Doximity reflect the views of a diverse community of clinicians. Doximity is designed to be a place for professional expression and discussion. We require members to conduct themselves on our network in the same manner as they would offline in a professional medical setting.
What Purpose Do Comments on Doximity Serve?
Doximity is interested in comments that are respectful, thoughtful, relevant to the content they are posted on, and intended to provoke discussion that benefits medical inquiry. Please share your thoughts, opinions, questions, and insight! Doximity members are here to learn from and engage with you.
What Types of Comments Violate Our Community Guidelines?
Doximity acknowledges and respects the value of different opinions, and our policies reflect our impartiality. That said, we ask that members refrain from posting inappropriate, inaccurate, or objectionable content on any Doximity platform. Consider your audience when sharing something that may offend others.
Doximity comments are curated and moderated according to the following guidelines. We reserve the right to remove any comments that do not advance medical discourse on the topic, are unproductive, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
- Discriminatory remarks based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation/gender identity, or medical specialty;
- Offensive or non-professional remarks and opinions;
- Unprofessional communications directed at particular credentials;
- Obscenity, vulgarity, or profanity;
- Advertising, solicitations, or spam;
- Defamatory personal attacks, insults, or threats;
- Comments intended to bait, antagonize, or provoke;
- Off-topic commentary or SHOUTING;
- URLs posted without context or accompanying text;
- Spreading false or misleading information;
- Posting comments that disclose personally identifiable health information of patients or otherwise violate patient privacy.
Please note that the above is not an exhaustive list. We reserve the right to remove comments that are not consistent with our Community Guidelines as described herein.
In an effort to foster professional, clinical, and productive discussion, Doximity regularly audits comments to ensure that members are adhering to our guidelines. If it is determined that a user's contributions are not meeting community standards, we reserve the right to suspend commenting ability indefinitely.
Why Did My Comment Disappear?
If you can no longer see your comment on the Doximity network, we have removed your comment for violating one or more of our Community Guidelines.
What Happens If I Violate a Community Guideline?
If you can no longer see your comment on the Doximity network, we have removed your comment for violating one or more of our Community Guidelines.
If you repeatedly violate our Community Guidelines, your comments will be subject to heightened moderation for a period of 30 days. If, during that period, your comments continue to violate Guidelines, your commenting privileges will be suspended.
Why Does Doximity Moderate Comments?
Doximity aims to provide a forum for medical professionals to engage in productive and substantive conversation. By moderating comments, we ensure that our members can have meaningful conversations and scientific discussions on topics of medical interest.
While most comments are posted, if they are appropriate and on-topic, Doximity moderators will remove disruptive comments at our discretion. Doximity’s Editorial Team makes these decisions carefully and with the health of Doximity’s vibrant community in mind. The Editorial Team reserves the right to preserve high-quality community discussion by closing comments sections or by requiring all comments to be reviewed and approved by moderators before they are visible on our network.
Doximity welcomes opinions and criticisms of our platform, and will not hesitate to approve comments that provide feedback. However, personal attacks against our team will not be tolerated, and all criticism should be relevant to the subject matter of the article.
Bullying and Harassment
Doximity does not tolerate bullying or harassment. We encourage members to speak freely on matters of public or professional interest, but we reserve the right to remove content that targets members or groups with the intention of degrading or shaming them. Our goal is for members to feel empowered. We will protect the right of all members to be treated with dignity and respect, and we will remove comments that violate this policy.
Content That Contradicts Widely Accepted Public Health Guidelines
Doximity values its community of medical professionals and is invested in the global mission of securing and maintaining public health. In a landscape of evolving guidance, particularly in the context of global health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, Doximity will remove any content that contradicts widely accepted public health guidelines without evidence-based support. This includes but is not limited to content that:
- Discourages observance of good public health behaviors as outlined by national authorities (e.g., social distancing, public masking, appropriate hand-washing hygiene, etc.);
- Promulgates unverified claims about the effectiveness, side effects, or implications of vaccination with FDA-authorized vaccines;
- Claims public health authorities are knowingly disseminating false or harmful information;
- Claims particular populations are responsible for and/or immune to infectious disease without peer-reviewed support;
- Minimizes the virulence or harms associated with transmission and exposure to infectious disease;
- Promulgates false data about deaths, hospitalizations, infection rates associated with infectious disease; and
- Claims unverified treatments are curative or viable alternatives to vaccination.
To the greatest extent possible, Doximity will not remove respectful expressions of skepticism; professional criticisms of infectious disease policy or public actors; or the sharing of clearly personal opinions and anecdotes.
Doximity’s Rights
All users must adhere to the terms and conditions outlined in Doximity’s Privacy Policy and User Agreement. Failure to follow these guidelines is in direct violation of the purpose and spirit of the services offered by Doximity, Inc., and its community, and may lead to the restriction or termination of your account.