Table II.

Techniques used to build a case for credibility have been described as ‘tokens of scientific legitimacy’ (modified with permission from Sipp et al).⁵¹

Token	Explanation
Accreditations	Asserting certification of products or practices by international standards organizations
Boards and advisers	Convening scientific or medical advisory boards featuring prominent academics and business leaders
Trial registration	Registering trials to attract patients willing to pay to participate
Ethics review	Usage of the term ‘ethics review’ to convey legitimacy to products or procedures
Location	Renting laboratory or business space within a legitimate scientific or government institution
Membership	Joining established academic or professional societies to suggest legitimacy by association
Outcome registries	Publication of open-ended voluntary monitoring data sets rather than controlled clinical trials
Patenting	Suggesting that patent applications or grants indicate clinical use
Publication	Publishing research and commentary in journals with limited anonymous peer review
Rationales	Citing preclinical and other research findings to justify clinical application
Self-regulation	Forming organizations to self-regulate
Technical language	Using scientific-sounding words that suggest academic rigor
Endorsements	Providing expert opinions or celebrity comments on unsupported clinical uses