How HIST Works

A transparent, science‑based approach to evaluating health information sources.

Methodology Overview

HIST evaluates websites against a set of trust signals derived from international standards and scientific literature. The system checks for:

Human Credibility

AI & LLM Readiness

Each signal is weighted by importance, and the final score is a normalized percentage from 0 to 100%.

HIST is built on internationally recognized frameworks:

90–100% Excellent 70–89% Good 50–69% Moderate 0–49% Low

Scores are calculated using a proprietary algorithm based on the above standards. Historical landmark papers may receive a bonus.

Current version: 3.5 (August 2026)

Tech stack: Node.js, Express, SQLite, HTML5, CSS3 (mobile-first), Font Awesome.

Data retention: All scan records are stored permanently for research purposes. No automated deletion occurs.