# Using Scientific Statements
Organizations use scientific statements as a foundation for scientific communications. Statements may explain efficacy, safety, disease states, unmet needs, and other themes related to current medical solutions. Vault Medical allows Medical Affairs teams to create, reference, approve, and maintain scientific statements at scale while linking them to documents that include them within the document content.
Medical suggests and creates link annotations to scientific statements, and the relevant reference material, via the _Suggest Links_ action. There are four types of _Scientific Statement_ link annotations:
* **Suggested Links**: When a user clicks the _Suggest Links_ action (), or when the _Suggest Links_ entry action runs, Vault creates Suggested Links, which must be reviewed and accepted or rejected.
* **Approved Links**: When you accept a pending Suggested Link, it becomes an Approved Link.
* **Auto-Accepted Links**: When a user clicks the _Suggest Links_ action (), or when the _Suggest Links_ entry action runs, Vault generates Auto-Accepted Links for exact text matches, which do not require review or approval. Your Admin may disable Auto-Accepted Links.
* **Manual Links**: You can manually select approved _Scientific Statements_ based on matching fields. You must have at least one (1) approved _Scientific Statement_ with the same _Primary Product_ and _PrimaryCountry_ as the given document to manually link to a statement.
## Using the Auto-Linking Action {#auto-linking}
_Auto-Linking_ is available by default for the _Material_ (`material__v`) document type but can be made available for other document types when your Admin enables the _Suggested Links_ action per each document type.
Once enabled, the _Auto-Linking_ () icon becomes available in the document viewer toolbar; clicking it generates Suggested Links on the document. The icon is only visible if the user has _Annotate_ and _Edit Relationships_ permissions on the document.
However, existing customer configurations are respected. If the _Suggest Links_ user action or entry action is configured on a document lifecycle state, the _Auto-Linking_ () icon is available only on that same state. To ensure that the icon always appears, remove all _Suggest Links_ user and entry actions from all active document lifecycle states first.
### Reviewing & Accepting Suggested Links
When the _Auto-Linking_ action is complete, click refresh in the notification to open the suggested links view. Once generated, suggested links appear to the right of the document. Click a Suggested Link to view it, then click **Accept** to add the link or **Reject** to reject the suggestion. You must have the _View_ permission on the documents referenced by the Suggested Link to accept or reject it. You can also hover over the name of the document in the Suggested Link for more information, or click the name to open the document. To view the _Scientific Statement_ record that Vault used to generate the suggested link, click its name in the _From_ field. If you select a target or document type that is disabled by your Admin after you open the _Select Anchor_ dialog, you will receive an error message.
When you accept a Suggested Link, Vault creates an Approved Link annotation. You cannot move, add, or remove references from the resulting Approved Link annotation, and these options will not appear in the annotation toolbar.
Vault displays the related _Scientific Statement_ records for all Suggested and Approved Links in the _Pending_ and _Approved_ status in the _Scientific Statements_ section of the document fields panel. Hover over the _Scientific Statement_'s name for details, or click it to go to the _Scientific Statement_'s record detail page. If you reject all Suggested Links for a _Scientific Statement_, it no longer appears in this section.
## About Auto-Accepted Links
In cases where there is an exact text match between text in the document and a statement, Vault creates an Auto-Accepted Link annotation authored by the user who created it, either by updating the document lifecycle state or by performing the _Suggest Links_ action. Auto-Accepted Links are similar to Suggested Links, but Vault adds the resulting annotations without the need for you to review and accept links. You cannot move Auto-Accepted Links or edit their references; however, an Auto-Accepted Link's author can edit its comments and tags and delete the annotation. Vault displays the related _Scientific Statement_ records for all Auto-Accepted Links in the _Scientific Statements_ section of the document fields panel.
If your Admin has disabled Auto-Accepted Links, Vault generates Suggested Links for all matches.
To create Auto-Accepted Links, click . If your Admin does not configure the _Auto-Linking_ action on any document lifecycle states, this icon is available on all states. If they configure the action on a document lifecycle state, Vault only displays this icon on that state.
## Manually Linking to Statements {#manually-linking}
Vault does not generate Suggested Links or Auto-Accepted Links for non-text content. You can manually add links to _Scientific Statements_ in documents if manual linking to statements is enabled in your Vault, the document has a viewable or video rendition, and the _Suggest Links_ action is enabled for the document type. To add links to statements manually:
1. Click **View annotations** () to enter annotation mode.
2. Click **Select annotation tool** () and select **Link** ().
3. Click the **Select link type** () drop-down and select **Scientific Statement**. If your Admin has changed the label for the `annotation_keywords__sys` object in your Vault, you will see this label in the drop-down instead. You must have at least one (1) approved _Scientific Statement_ with the same _Primary Country_ and _Primary Product_ as the document to manually link to a statement.
4. Highlight the area or text to place the link to open the record picker dialog containing all _Approved_ statements you have permission to view. Vault auto filters these statements based on matching fields.
5. Select the desired statement, then click **Close** to create the annotation. If you close the record picker dialog without making a selection, Vault does not create the link annotation.
When selecting statements, you can hover over the _Scientific Statement_ name to display its record in a hover card. You can also click to view the _Scientific Statement_ record detail page.
Vault displays the related _Scientific Statement_ records for statements links added manually in the _Scientific Statements_ section on the Doc Info page, and documents containing statement links appear in the _Where Used_ panel of a _Scientific Statement_ record detail page. You must be in a document role with _Annotate_ and _Edit Relationships_ permissions to manually link to _Scientific Statements_.
### About Self-Referencing Links {#self-links}
When adding links to a document, it is possible to create a link to an anchor elsewhere within the same document and version. However, Vault prevents you from creating whole-document links to the same document version. Therefore, some situations may result in a Suggested Link or Auto Link that does not include a link component for that reference in the resulting annotation. For example, Document A is the only reference for Statement 001. If Jane performs the _Suggest Links_ user action on Document A, the resulting annotation contains only a link to Statement 001 and does not contain a link to Document A.
Additionally, if a user creates a statement link by selecting a _Scientific Statement_ that references the same document version at the document level, Vault does not include a link component for that reference in the resulting annotation. For example, if Document A contains a PDF file, and Jane creates a statement link and selects Statement 001 in the record picker dialog, the resulting annotation contains only a link to Statement 001 and does not contain a link to Document A.
## Copying Statements
When creating a new _Scientific Statement_ by copying an existing record, Vault prompts you to select a _Reason for Copy_. Vault automatically populates the _Source Statement_ field on the new record with the original _Statement_ from which this _Statement_ derives.
## Removing Auto and Suggested Links
To undo the _Auto-Linking_ action and delete all Suggested Link and Auto Linked annotations from a document:
1. Click **View annotations** () to enter annotation mode.
2. Click **Remove Suggested Links** ().
3. In the pop-up dialog, click **Continue**.
This action removes all Suggested Links and Auto-Accepted Links from a document, but does not prevent other users with the correct permissions from running Auto-Linking on the document in the future.
### Removing Manually Accepted Suggestions
To remove manually accepted Suggested Links, you must click the **Actions** menu on each individual link and select **Delete**.
## Filtering by Link Type
From the **Filter** menu, you can select which kinds of annotations Vault displays:
* Select **Auto-Accepted Links** to see only links automatically generated by Vault. This includes Approved Links and Auto-Accepted Links.
* Select **Suggested Links** to see only Suggested Links in _Pending_ status.
* Select **Manual Links** to show only links created manually. This includes Document Links and statement links.
## Viewing the Where Used Component On Scientific Statement Records
The _Where Used_ section of a _Scientific Statement_'s record detail page lists all document versions where Vault has generated suggested links or Auto-Accepted Links for that _Statement_, or where users have added links manually. Vault lists each document version once. If multiple versions of the same document have links for a _Scientific Statement_, Vault lists each version in its own row.
The _Where Used_ component includes the following columns:
* **Name**: The name and version of the document where the _Scientific Statement_ is used. Hover over the name for more information or click to navigate to the document version.
* **Number**: The document number of the document where the _Scientific Statement_ is used.
* **Status**: The lifecycle state of the document where the _Scientific Statement_ is used.
* **Suggested**: The total number of Suggested Links, including _Pending_, _Accepted_, and _Rejected_ links. This column does not include links deleted with the _Remove Suggested Links_ action.
* **Pending**: The total number of Suggested Links in _Pending_ status.
* **Accepted**: The total number of Suggested Links in _Accepted_ status.
* **Rejected**: The total number of Suggested Links in _Rejected_ status.
* **Manual**: The total number of links added manually.
* **Auto**: The total number of Auto-Accepted Links.
* **Last Used**: The timestamp when a link was most recently created or accepted on the document. This includes Suggested, Auto, and manual links.
By default, Vault sorts documents by the most recently used. You can set a different sort order by clicking the header of any column. Select **Edit Columns** from the **Actions** menu to add, remove, or reorder columns.
## Limitations
Statement management has the following limitations:
* Vault cannot create Suggested Links on non-text content.
* Suggested Links in _Pending_ status cannot find _Statements_ that span across multiple pages.
* Suggested Links in _Pending_ status do not appear in _PDF With Annotations_ or _Export Annotations_ downloads.
* Users cannot download Suggested Links in _Pending_ status with the _Download Notes_ action.
* Users cannot run the _Suggest Links_ user action or accept pending links on archived documents, but they can remove pending links.
* Vault does not bring forward Suggested Links in _Pending_ status.
* When you use the _Make a Copy_ action on a document with pending Suggested Links, Approved Links, or Auto-Accepted Links, Vault does not copy these annotations to the new document. Manually created document links, permalinks, and Claim Links are copied to the new document.
* Vault does not suggest non-exact matches on documents beyond the 50,000th character.
## Using Platform Suggested Links
If an Admin has not configured your Vault to use the _Enhanced Suggested Links_ functionality, suggested links behave differently.
You can automatically generate links for some document types. The _Suggest Links_ button appears at the top of the Doc Info page when:
* Your Admin has enabled the _Suggest Links_ action on the document type.
* You have _Annotate_ and _Edit Relationships_ permissions on the document.
* Suggested links have not yet been generated by clicking the _Suggest Links_ button.
* There is at least one matching approved _Scientific Statement_.
Vault notifies you if the _Suggest Links_ action fails or takes longer than three (3) minutes. When the _Suggest Links_ action is complete, the _Suggest Links_ button becomes the _Suggested Links_ button and you will see a notification. The _Suggest Links_ action can generate Suggested Links, Auto-Accepted Links, or both.
When the _Suggest Links_ action is complete, click **refresh** in the notification or click the **Suggested Links** button to open the suggested links view. Once generated, suggested links appear to the right of the document. Click a Suggested Link to view it, then click **Accept** to add the link or **Reject** to reject the suggestion. You must have the _View_ permission on the documents referenced by the Suggested Link to accept or reject it.
## Related Permissions
The following permissions control functionality related to _Scientific Statement_ management:
| Type | Permission Label | Controls |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Security Profile | Objects: Scientific Statement: Create, Edit, Delete | Ability to create, edit, and delete statements, including references. |
| Security Profile | Objects: Scientific Statement Target: Create, Edit, Delete | Ability to see and add suggested links. |
| Security Profile | Objects: Link Target: Create, Edit, Delete | Ability to see and add suggested links and to see and use the _Remove Suggested Links_ action. |
| Security Profile | Objects: Link Target: Object Action Permissions: Preview: View, Execute | Ability to see and use the _Preview_ action to view the list of existing targets on a reference. The _Business Administrator Actions_, _System Administrator Actions_, and _Vault Owner Actions_ standard permission sets include these permissions, but they must be added to custom permission sets. |
| Security Profile | Objects: Link Target: Object Action Permissions: Remove: View, Execute | Ability to see and use the _Remove_ action to remove a reference document from a _Statement_. The _Business Administrator Actions_, _System Administrator Actions_, and _Vault Owner Actions_ standard permission sets include these permissions, but they must be added to custom permission sets. |
| Document Role | Annotate | Ability to perform the _Suggest Links_ action. |
| Document Role | Edit Relationships | Ability to perform the _Suggest Links_ action. |
| Lifecycle State | View Content | Ability to accept or reject a Suggested Link. The user must have the _View Document_ permission to accept a Suggested Link that references a document, and _View Content_ to accept a Link that references an anchor within a document. |