Articles that pass the methods criteria are rated for clinical interest and newsworthiness for the disciplines assigned to each article. For internal medicine, the disciplines of interest are primary care, hospitalist, allergy and immunology, cardiology, dermatology, endocrine, gastroenterology, genetics, geriatrics, hematology/thrombosis, infectious disease, tropical/travel medicine, intensivist, nephrology, neurology, oncology, respirology/pulmonology, rheumatology, and physical medicine & rehabilitation.

At least 3 ratings are obtained for each assigned discipline. The ratings are averaged and the mean rating is sent to the editorial consultant.

The articles are rated for clinical relevance and newsworthiness on a scale of 1 to 7 (click here to see a sample rating form). Articles that score a mean of 3 or more are considered eligible for PIER modules.