Vetted reviewers

Vetted reviewers are named people with a stated reason to be read on a kind of resource: someone who teaches New Testament Greek, a children’s librarian, a pastor who has used study Bibles with a congregation for years. They write under their own names, disclose their tradition, and are admitted against the public criteria on this page. Their reviews sit in a second column beside the community track. The two are never blended.

Why two tracks

A community of readers and a handful of specialists answer different questions. The community track tells you whether people who live with a thing would use it again. The vetted track tells you what a named person with a relevant background found when they looked closely. Blending them into one score would hide both answers behind a third that nobody gave. So the vetted column has its own share and its own meters, computed by the same formulas, and it appears only once a listing has 3 vetted reviews.

What a vetted review shows

• The reviewer’s name and a one-line role, for example “Teaches New Testament Greek”.
• The tradition the reviewer disclosed. Disclosure is a condition of admission.
• Verified use where the reviewer’s REVA reading record supports it, or “Self-reported use”.
• The same meters, the same where-it-helped and where-it-got-in-the-way points, and the same declared-connection line as any review.
• The line “Vetted track, shown beside the community, never blended”.

A vetted review is moderated under the same moderation policy and counted under the same eligibility rule. A vetted reviewer with a declared connection to a maker is labeled and not counted for that maker’s resources, the same as anyone. An undeclared connection ends admission.

Public criteria

Admission is against these criteria, applied to the kind of resource the reviewer asks to be vetted for. A person can be vetted for Bibles and not for kids’ titles.

1. Relevant experience for the resource type, described publicly with examples of teaching, professional work or sustained use. A formal degree is not the only way to establish relevant experience.
2. A review grounded in actual use of the named resource and edition or app version, with the scope and limits of that use disclosed. Reading a maker’s page alone is not a hands-on review.
3. Clear separation of sourced facts, personal experience and interpretation, with a willingness to correct factual errors and publish maker connections.

In every case the reviewer must write under their real name, disclose their tradition, declare any connection to a listed maker, and have no employment, contract or household connection to REVA. Insiders cannot be vetted reviewers.

External guide contributors

We are bringing in contributors from outside REVA for guides as well. A guide’s author and external review credits are separate from the vetted product-review track. A contributor is not called a vetted reviewer unless admitted under the criteria above, and a guide review does not add a product rating or affect a meter.

The guide publishes a completed reviewer’s name, role, affiliation, connections or compensation and review date. If no completed review is credited, it says “External review pending”. Any employment, contract or household connection, including a paid editorial assignment, must be disclosed and considered under the eligibility rules before a product review can count. See the guide coverage policy.

Admission on request

Anyone can ask. Send your name, the category you are asking about, your reason to be read on it, your tradition, and any connections to listed makers. Contact Support with those details and a reply email. An admission is announced on this page with the reviewer’s name, role line, tradition and date. A decline is private, and the reason is given to the person who asked.

Vetted reviewers are not paid, not given free copies by us, and not asked to review anything in particular. A maker that provides a vetted reviewer with a copy is a connection, and the reviewer declares it.

Removal

A vetted reviewer is removed from the list for an undeclared connection, for a review removed under one of the five listed reasons, or at their own request. A removal is announced here with the date and the reason, and the reviewer’s existing reviews stay published and stay in the vetted column, marked with the date the admission ended. The count of vetted reviewers is published nightly on the transparency page.

The list

This page does not currently publish a named reviewer directory. A vetted badge identifies account admission to the vetted track, not a completed independent review of every listing or guide. Participating-company moderator access is a separate role.