Fact-Checking Policy

Source hierarchy

When a claim needs support, we prefer, in roughly this order: government publications and official regulator material; peer-reviewed research; universities and academic institutions; official company documentation; recognised professional organisations; original datasets; reputable specialist publications; named, experienced experts; and high-quality journalism. We avoid building an article's core claims on anonymous blogs, content farms, AI-generated sources, unsourced social posts, or other articles that themselves lack primary sourcing. Full detail is on the Sources & Methodology page.

Claim verification

Statistics, dates, quotes, and factual assertions are checked against the original source before publication, not against a secondary summary of it. Where we can't independently verify a claim to a reasonable standard, we either don't publish it, attribute it clearly to whoever is making it, or flag it explicitly as unverified.

Date and jurisdiction verification

For anything time-sensitive or jurisdiction-specific — a regulation, a currency figure, a workplace statistic — we record the source's publication date, our retrieval date, and the jurisdiction it applies to. An article written about one country's tax rules or cost-of- living figures is not presented as universally applicable.

Primary-source preference

Where a primary source (the original study, the government filing, the company's own statement) is available, we link to and cite that rather than a news article summarizing it. Secondary sources are used when a primary one isn't publicly accessible, and that's noted.

Uncertainty language

Where evidence is preliminary, mixed, or still developing, our language reflects that: "research suggests," "is associated with," "some people experience," rather than definitive claims the evidence doesn't support. We distinguish correlation from causation explicitly rather than implying one from the other.

What this doesn't cover

Field Notes and personal-experience pieces are not fact-checked in the same way — they are labelled as one person's experience and opinion, not as verified reporting. See our Content Review Policy for how different content types are reviewed.