Source policy
A citation is a trail, not a decoration.
We select evidence for the claim being made, open the underlying source, and keep the limits of that source visible.
Evidence hierarchy
Match the source to the question.
Primary and authoritative sources
We prefer original research for specific scientific findings and current official documentation for laws, standards, policies, and product behavior. Systematic reviews and high-quality syntheses support broader conclusions. Practitioner accounts may inform procedures but are labeled as such.
Claim-level checking
Editors open cited material, confirm that it supports the adjacent claim, and inspect population, method, date, and material limitations. Several pages repeating one claim do not count as independent evidence.
Books and quotation
Book analysis adds criticism, comparison, and application. It does not replace the source text. Quotations are brief, attributed, and used only when the exact language matters.
Changing facts
Time-sensitive claims carry an evidence cutoff. Immediately before an authorized release, we recheck only facts that could have changed since that cutoff. If a current fact cannot be verified, we narrow the statement, mark uncertainty, or omit it. An evidence cutoff does not create a recurring review schedule.