The Shrink Network

For clinicians and researchers

Contribute to The Shrink Network.

Published July 25, 2026 · Last reviewed July 25, 2026 by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA

Expert perspectives, medical reviews, and interviews from clinicians and researchers whose credentials are verifiable and whose scope fits. Real credentials, real work, permanent canonical byline.

Written and reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA

The Shrink Network is 14 mental-health properties with one editorial standard. This page explains how licensed clinicians, researchers, and qualified educators can contribute expert perspectives, medical reviews, or interviews across the network, what credentials are required per site, what the editorial standards are, and what contributors receive.

Every contribution is evidence-based. Every reviewer name appears only on pages that person actually reviewed. There is no fee to contribute and no fee to appear. Contributors receive a permanent canonical byline they can cite on a CV, add to a practice site, or link to from a university biography.

Who can contribute.

Contributors need credentials that are verifiable and a scope of practice that matches the content. Fits vary by site.

Per-site fits

Where each type of contribution belongs.

The right site depends on what you want to contribute. If you're not sure, apply through Contact and we'll route you.

  1. Shrinkopedia, Expert Perspectives.

    Answer one tightly bounded question attached to an existing concept page. 150 to 400 words. Fits for: psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed therapists (LCSW, LMFT, LPC), psychiatric nurse practitioners, researchers with a doctorate in a mental-health field, and other qualified specialists whose scope matches the concept.

  2. PsychiatryRx, medical and pharmacy reviewers.

    Review medication content for accuracy and safety. Fits for: board-certified psychiatrists (ABPN), board-certified psychiatric pharmacists (BCPP), reproductive psychiatrists, geriatric psychiatrists, addiction psychiatrists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and pharmacists with relevant subspecialty. Recusal required for medications where the reviewer has a current financial relationship with the manufacturer.

  3. Shrinkiatry, interviews and profiles.

    Interview subjects for series like How I Practice, The Program Director Interview, Building the Practice, The Psychiatry Founder, and Front Lines of Mental Health (primary care clinicians). Fits for: psychiatrists, residency program directors, fellowship directors, department chairs, psychiatric pharmacists, mental-health founders, early-career psychiatrists doing distinctive work, primary care clinicians with a documented mental-health-access initiative.

  4. AnxietyResource and DepressionResource, medical reviewers.

    Review patient-education content and downloadable resources. Fits for: psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed therapists trained in evidence-based approaches for anxiety or depression, and researchers with subject-matter expertise.

  5. Shrinktionary, professional definition contributions.

    One-sentence clinical nuance on a term, common-misuse commentary, "what this does not mean" notes, or specialty-specific context. Fits for: any licensed clinician or researcher whose scope includes the term.

Credentials required.

Contributor credentials must be verifiable through a public source. That means one or more of:

  • State medical, psychology, nursing, pharmacy, or social work license (verifiable through the state board)
  • ABMS board certification (verifiable through the ABMS diplomate directory or ABPN CertiFACTS)
  • BPS/BCPP certification (verifiable through BPS)
  • NPI (verifiable through the NPI registry)
  • Doctorate from an accredited program in a mental-health field (verifiable through the awarding institution)
  • Current faculty appointment at an accredited institution (verifiable through the institution)
  • Published research listed in PubMed or a comparable authoritative index (with the contributor as an author)

If the credential lapses, or if the contributor becomes subject to a licensure action, the contributor profile is suspended pending review, and every page they authored or reviewed gets an editorial re-check within 30 days.

What contributors receive.

The value of a contribution is the permanent canonical byline. Specifically:

  • A per-person canonical contributor profile URL. Format: /contributors/<slug>/. This is the citable page. It's what you link to from your CV, practice site, university biography, LinkedIn, or media page.
  • Auto-linked list of your contributions. Every page you author or review is listed on your profile. When you contribute again, it updates automatically.
  • An optional "Featured contributor at [site]" badge. A small image plus HTML snippet you can add to your own website. It links back to your canonical profile. Optional. No requirement to display.
  • A citation-ready reference for your CV. Standard format: "Contributor, Shrinkopedia (or the appropriate site), publication date."
  • An optional headshot on your profile if you provide one with written permission.
  • The reach of a psychiatrist-reviewed publication. Pages are optimized for AI answer engines, indexed with structured data, and cross-linked across the network.

Contributors are not asked to pay. Contributors are not asked to promote. Contributors are not asked to refer patients. The relationship is editorial. That's what makes the byline meaningful.

Editorial standards you agree to.

By contributing, you agree that:

  • Contributions are evidence-based. Claims trace to a primary source per Evidence methodology. Marketing pages, unsourced blogs, competitor content, AI-generated citations, and press releases are not primary sources.
  • Contributions are within your scope. A psychiatrist doesn't review pharmacology-specific pages a psychiatric pharmacist would review better, and vice versa. Scope is enforced by the per-site editors.
  • Contributions are educational, not medical advice. Every clinical page carries a plain-language reminder. Contributions do not create a clinician-patient relationship with any reader.
  • Reviewer names appear only on pages you actually reviewed. If your name is on a "medically reviewed by" line, you read and approved the current published version. Rolling reviews require a re-approval before the next scheduled review date.
  • You disclose financial interests, industry relationships, employers, board seats, equity, and speaker bureaus both on your profile and inline on any page where the disclosure is material.
  • You recuse from pages where you have a current financial relationship with the manufacturer, provider, or product being discussed. Disclosure alone is not sufficient for this class of conflict.
  • You may correct factual errors on pages you contributed to. You cannot edit the editorial position of the page. Editorial disagreements are handled through Corrections.
  • You will not use your byline to promote a specific product, practice, or service outside what the editorial page requires.

Full standards are in Network governance, Contributors and reviewers.

What's never allowed.

  • Payment for a contribution or review
  • Reviewer names on pages without actual review (decorative signaling)
  • Ghostwritten content credited to a contributor
  • Inflated credentials or unverifiable claims
  • Contributions that are actually marketing for the contributor's product or practice
  • Cross-promotion tied to a contribution ("If I contribute, will you send me referrals?")
  • Anonymous contributions or contributions without full disclosure
  • Sponsored content on editorial pages

How to apply.

Send the following to Contact with subject line "Contributor application, [your name]":

  1. Your full name and current credentials (with license numbers or diplomate IDs where applicable)
  2. Current institution or practice
  3. NPI or equivalent registry link if you have one
  4. Your specialty and scope of practice statement, 2 to 4 sentences
  5. Written disclosures: financial interests, industry relationships, employers, board seats, equity, speaker bureaus
  6. Which site or sites you'd like to contribute to, and what type of contribution (expert perspective, medical review, interview subject, downloadable-asset review)
  7. Proposed topic(s), question(s), or page(s) if applicable
  8. Sample of your published or unpublished writing, 200 to 400 words on a topic in your scope
  9. Two professional references (name, title, institution, email)
  10. Written acknowledgment that you have read and agree to the editorial standards on this page

We aim to respond within 21 days. If we can't take you at the site you named but a different site fits, we'll say so and route.

Corrections, revocation, and appeal.

Every contributor profile links to Corrections. If a factual error appears in your contribution, submit a correction. If a factual error appears in the page's editorial framing and you disagree, submit an editorial concern through Contact.

If your credentials lapse, if a licensure action is filed against you, or if a disclosure emerges that would change the meaning of your contribution, your profile is suspended pending review. If the review concludes that the contribution is still accurate and defensible, the profile is restored. If the review concludes otherwise, the profile is revoked and every page you authored or reviewed is re-edited or removed.

Revocations are logged publicly in Corrections. The reasoning is published to the extent that professional and legal confidentiality allows.

Anti-Kickback and referral considerations.

The Shrink Network is founded by Shariq Refai, MD, who also owns shrinkMD. Contributions to any editorial site in the network are never tied to a referral relationship with shrinkMD or with any other clinical practice, and past or promised referrals cannot influence contributor selection. This is a federal Anti-Kickback Statute compliance requirement, and it's also just correct.

If you're a primary care clinician being invited to a Shrinkiatry Front Lines of Mental Health feature: the feature is editorial. It is not a solicitation for shrinkMD referrals. Any communication from shrinkMD about its services will come separately, in a distinct message, at least a week after your feature is published. That message will state explicitly that there is no referral arrangement or obligation.

Full detail is in Network governance, Referral relationships and Anti-Kickback compliance.

Frequently asked questions.

Do I need a Wikipedia page, board certification, or a specific number of publications?

No. Contributors need verifiable credentials and a scope that matches the content. Early-career clinicians with real expertise are welcome. Nationally famous names are not the criterion.

Can I contribute if I'm outside the United States?

Yes, if your credentials are verifiable and your scope fits. Note that per-page context may be US-specific (jurisdictional warnings, FDA labels, US insurance context), so contributions should be scoped accordingly.

Can I write pseudonymously or anonymously?

No. Contributor byline is public, canonical, and tied to verified credentials. Anonymous contributions violate the network's editorial standard.

How long does a contribution take?

An expert perspective on Shrinkopedia is 150 to 400 words and generally takes contributors under an hour once the question is agreed. A medical review on PsychiatryRx varies with page length, typically one to three hours. An interview on Shrinkiatry is a 30 to 45 minute conversation plus a review of the transcript and article draft.

Can I add my contribution to my CV, university bio, LinkedIn, or practice site?

Yes. That's the point. Your contributor profile URL is designed to be citable. The optional badge is designed to be embedded on your own site.

Can I withdraw a contribution?

Yes. Contributor withdrawal is honored on request through Contact. The contribution is removed from the page and from your profile within 30 days. If the withdrawal is because of a factual error, we prefer a correction first, but withdrawal is your right.

Are contributions AI-assisted?

Contributor-authored text is by the named contributor. AI may assist the editorial team with formatting and structural editing per the AI Use standard. AI does not generate the contributor's substantive analysis, quotes, or claims. If AI-assisted drafting is used at any stage of a contribution, it is disclosed to the contributor and consented to before publication.

How does the network's medical review board relate to contributor reviews?

The Medical Review Board is the standing group that reviews structural changes to editorial policy and reviews escalated cases. Individual page reviewers are contributors under this standard. Every page-level "reviewed by" byline is a contributor. The Medical Review Board sits above that layer.

Ready to apply.

Send the materials listed under "How to apply" to Contact with subject line "Contributor application, [your name]". If you have a specific proposed contribution in mind, include it. If you'd like to discuss whether your scope fits before applying, ask.

Every application is read by a member of the editorial team and, when appropriate, by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA. Response within 21 days.

Related governance.