Editorial Standards

These standards exist so a reader can judge how much weight to give any sentence on this site. They describe actual practice rather than an aspiration.

Source hierarchy

Sources are used in order of strength for the specific claim being made.

1. Primary evidence. Legal instruments, protected designation specifications, national bread standards, official statistical releases, standards bodies, manufacturer technical documentation for product facts, museum and archive catalogue records, and peer-reviewed papers.
2. Subject authorities. Recognised research institutes, agricultural universities and extension services, national libraries, professional trade bodies, and named practitioners with demonstrable expertise.
3. Reputable reporting. Established newsrooms and specialist publications with named authors, dates, corrections practice, and links to primary evidence.
4. Discovery only. Aggregators, general blogs, forums, and user-generated pages may point towards a lead. They are never the sole evidence for a material factual claim.

A well-known website is not automatically authoritative for every subject. Where a rewrite and an original document both exist, the original is cited.

Evidence thresholds

Every article rests on at least one authoritative source. Two independent sources are required for any claim that is numerical, time-sensitive, contested, interpretive, or commercially consequential. Where the available sources disagree, the article says so rather than averaging them or picking the more convenient figure.

Where a source itself is imperfect, that is disclosed in the article. A student dissertation, an industry page without a date, or a review paper with internal inconsistencies can still be worth citing, but not silently as if it were a standard.

Precision about numbers and dates

Figures are reported with their units and their context: what was measured, by whom, and under what conditions. A measurement taken from one oven is not presented as a typical value for all ovens of that type. Vague time markers such as "recently" are avoided in favour of dates. Where a conversion between units appears, it is arithmetic performed here, not a figure lifted from the source.

Writing from the record

Articles are written from sources that were opened and read. The prose brings those records together, with citations that let readers check the claims and distinguish a source's findings from the publication's interpretation.

Articles must not contain invented sources, quotations, interviews, measurements, credentials, or first-hand experience. Where the publication has no direct experience of something, it does not claim any.

Fact checking before publication

Factual review is treated as separate from copy editing. Before an article is published, every cited page is reopened and the names, dates, numbers, causal claims, and any quoted wording are checked against it. Quotations are kept short, attributed inline, and used only where the exact wording matters.

Articles carry a published date and, where they have been substantively revised, a separate updated date. Publication dates are not quietly refreshed to make old work look new.

Cover images and rights

Each article has a different real photograph with permission for free use without a mandatory credit. Photos are stored locally and described in alt text by what they actually show. The editorial ledger retains the source page, creator, licence, download date, and local file record. A photograph selected for its relevance is not presented as evidence of a cited experiment, a certified product, or a historical event without supporting records.

Corrections

Corrections are made in place, in the article, rather than in a separate notice that readers will not see. A substantive correction changes the article's updated date. Reports of errors should identify the article and the specific claim, and are handled through the Contact page.

Independence and monetisation

The site may carry advertising, affiliate links, sponsored content, or paid placements to support publication. Any commercial relationship will be disclosed prominently in the affected article or placement, and payment or products do not determine our factual conclusions or editorial judgment.