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 and based in the United Kingdom.

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 PIF TICK certification. 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, including that it:

• is evidence-based and up to date

• involves users

• is easy to use

You can read our information on our cancer types pages

How you can help us

If you would like to become a reviewer please email us, and we can send you some more details. When we have information ready for review we will email it to you as a Word document to add your comments.

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 4 weeks of receiving it. If you have any questions or would like to become a lay reviewer 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 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.