Content Policy

Purpose

Rate Your Advisor exists to help graduate students and postdocs make informed decisions about academic mentorship. Reviews should reflect genuine first-hand experiences with an advisor's mentorship, communication, and lab environment — not personal vendettas or unverified hearsay.

What makes a good review

• Based on your direct experience working with the advisor
• Focuses on professional aspects of the advising relationship
• Constructive and specific — describes what worked or didn't work and why
• Written as you would want your own work evaluated: honestly but fairly

What is not allowed

• False information — reviews must reflect genuine experience. Fabricated or knowingly inaccurate reviews are prohibited.
• Personal attacks — criticism of an advisor's professional conduct is appropriate; attacks on personal characteristics unrelated to mentorship are not.
• Private information — do not include an advisor's personal contact details, home address, medical information, or other private data.
• Conflicts of interest — do not review your own work or submit reviews on behalf of others.
• Harassment campaigns — coordinated submissions targeting a specific advisor are prohibited.

Moderation

Written reviews are not displayed publicly — they are used internally to generate anonymized AI summaries. We review flagged content and may remove reviews that violate this policy. If you believe a review about you is false or violates this policy, contact us at contact@rate-your-advisor.com.

For advisors

If you are an advisor and believe a review about you is inaccurate, harassing, or violates this policy, please contact us. We take such concerns seriously and will review them promptly. Note that negative but honest reviews are protected and will not be removed solely because they are unfavorable.