How Solas selects and reviews research

Solas is a behavioral coaching tool. Every recommendation in the app maps to a peer-reviewed study or consensus guideline that lives in our public research library. This page describes how research enters that library, how it's verified, and how it becomes a recommendation.

Selection

We prioritize studies that meet at least one of:

Population fit. The participants were pregnant or postpartum, or the question demonstrably generalizes to them. We exclude single-arm or healthy-young-male trials when an appropriately recruited trial exists.
Design strength. Randomized controlled trials, network meta-analyses, and consensus guidelines from sleep-medicine and obstetric bodies (e.g. SASM, SOAP, ACOG) are weighted highest. Cohort and observational studies are included when they are the strongest available evidence and the limitation is disclosed on the page.
Direct measurement. We prefer studies that measured the behavior and the outcome we plan to recommend on (e.g. ambient light → sleep architecture and insulin sensitivity, not "exposure" → "wellness").

Single small studies are included only when the design is unusually clean and the result is mechanistically grounded. Each entry's page surfaces the limitation explicitly.

Verification

Before a study can back a recommendation in the iOS app:

The full text or accepted manuscript is read by the Solas research team.
The citation, year, journal, sample size, study design, primary outcome, and effect size are extracted into a structured record (src/data/sources.ts).
The plain-language summary is written from scratch and checked back against the paper.
The associated recommendation is written so that a reader can tell which finding it depends on, and the page links back to the paper.

Reviews and updates

Every research page shows a Last reviewed date pulled from the underlying source's metadata. We re-review entries when:

A newer study materially changes the recommendation.
A reader points out a transcription or interpretation error.
A consensus guideline supersedes the entry.

Errors are corrected in place and noted in the page's revision history.

Conflict of interest

Solas is built by Circadian Group LLC. We do not accept payment, samples, or sponsorship from supplement manufacturers, wearable manufacturers, or pharmaceutical companies in exchange for research selection or coverage. Wearable integrations (Oura, Apple Health, Whoop, Fitbit) exist because users asked for them; they have no influence over which studies appear on the site.

Limits of this work

Solas is not a medical device. It does not diagnose or treat sleep disorders, depression, or any other condition. If you suspect obstructive sleep apnea, severe insomnia, or postpartum depression, please see a clinician — Solas will point you to validated screening tools but is not a substitute for one.

Editorial contact

Questions, corrections, or methodology disputes: info@circadiangroupllc.com.