The risk with a permanent board, such as an advisory board whose members review each new article, is that reviewers may have too much to do and become less critical over time, or give up from exhaustion. If the review board is selected specifically for each article, it may be better suited to the topic, for example including specialists and non-specialists interested in the topic. However, these people have less training in critical appraisal or in judging a text.

Most ISDB bulletins use a mixture of permanent reviewers, including methodologists, clinical pharmacologists and health professionals, and occasional reviewers who have a special interest or expertise in the topic. This is the recommended approach.