Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) & Privileges Specification

Network & Protocol Layer

HTTPS/TLS enforcement, cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) origin filtering, and request rate limiting across all client interfaces.

Authentication Layer

Session signature validation, token revocation checking upon logout or password reset, email verification state, and active account standing checks.

Authorization & Content Ownership Layer

Resource ownership matching (creator ID vs. requester ID), role permission requirements, and reviewer prerequisite verification.

Unauthenticated visitors. Read-only access to published public content, public media, and application forms.

Authenticated users. Can author and manage personal drafts, podcasts, and submit proposed revisions to existing articles.

Verified editorial reviewers with signed agreements. Review queues, approve and publish submissions, or request revisions.

Platform administrators. Manage moderator accounts and onboarding, universal content override, and platform-wide configurations.

4.1. 🌐 Public / Guest (Unauthenticated)

Identity: Anonymous client or unregistered visitor.
Scope: Read-only access to published public content and onboarding entry points.

• View published articles and related recommendations
• Search and browse medical glossary definitions
• Stream published podcasts, playlists, and episodes
• Stream public media assets (.jpg, .jpeg, .mp3, avatars)
• Submit application to join the editorial review board
• Submit inquiries via contact portal
• Register for a new account or authenticate

4.2. 👤 Authenticated User / Author / Contributor

Identity: Registered platform user with authenticated session.
Scope: Personal profile management, content authoring, community engagement, and collaborative improvements.

• Article Lifecycle: Create new article drafts; edit and delete own articles (enforced: author ID must match authenticated user).
• Podcast & Audio Creation: Create and update own podcasts and playlists; publish and edit own audio episodes.
• Collaborative Improvements: Submit proposed revisions and corrections to published articles.
• User Interactions: Like, save, repost, comment on articles and podcasts; delete personal notifications.

4.3. 🛡️ Admin / Moderator / Reviewer

Identity: Verified editorial reviewer with active standing and uploaded signed agreement.
Scope: Peer review, quality control, editorial feedback, and publication workflows.

• Articles Review Queue: Self-assign articles from queue, track review progress, submit review feedback, approve and publish peer-reviewed articles (preserving reviewer attribution), discard submissions failing guidelines, unassign oneself before completion.
• Article Improvement Queue: Pick unassigned edit requests, review proposed changes and check for content loss, publish approved improvements, discard invalid requests.
• Podcast Review Queue: Review submitted audio, approve and publish (preserving reviewer attribution), discard inappropriate submissions.
• Medical Glossary Review Queue: Pick unassigned terms, approve and publish glossary entries, send feedback to author or reject.
• Agreements & Workload: Sign and upload digital agreements, view personal agreement document, view assigned workload and review metrics.

4.4. 👑 Super Admin (Full Privilege)

Identity: Platform governing administrator.
Scope: System governance, administrator account lifecycle, data retention, infrastructure cleanup, and master settings.

• Universal Content Override: Edit, delete, publish, or discard any article, podcast, playlist, episode, or glossary term across all users.
• Moderator Account Lifecycle: Inspect all applicant submissions and resumes, update application status, provision new Admin / Moderator accounts from approved applicants, view all admins, block or unblock moderator accounts, delete moderator accounts.
• Storage & Asset Management: Access internal agreements and onboarded applicant documents; execute permanent deletions of files and records when necessary.
• Platform Master Settings: Manage platform system languages and platform-wide options.

Author Ownership Rule

A user can only update or delete content they authored. Requests to modify another author's work are rejected at the authorization layer.

Reviewer Prerequisites

A moderator account must be verified, unblocked, and have a valid signed agreement on file before access to the editorial queue is granted.

Confidential Storage Rule

Admin agreements and applicant resumes are not public assets. They are accessible only by the individual moderator or a Super Admin.

Administrative Self-Protection

Super Admin accounts cannot be blocked or deleted via the system, and administrators cannot block or delete their own accounts.