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Standards

The rules the rest of this site is written to, published so that a reader can check our work rather than take our word for it — and so that a future editor inherits the rules rather than reinventing them.

  • Editorial Standards

    What this site publishes, what it refuses to publish, and the rules every page is written to.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Research Methodology

    How the reports in the research library are produced, versioned, and limited.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Citation Policy

    What qualifies as a source, how citations are attached to claims, and why the reference list cannot drift from the text.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Evidence Standards

    The rule that governs what this site will assert, and the specific things it therefore refuses to tell you.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Corrections Policy

    How to report an error, what we do with it, and how corrections are published.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Update Policy

    How often pages are reviewed, what triggers an out-of-cycle review, and what the dates on a page mean.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Data Sources

    The complete register of sources this site draws on, and the retrieval limitations attached to some of them.

    Updated 2026-08-01

  • Transparency Statement

    Who operates this site, how it is funded, what it does not do, and its relationship to government.

    Updated 2026-08-01