Editorial Standards

1Scope and independence

1.1
When Notes Fly is an independent publication covering concepts, technology, explainers, work and skills, culture, and ideas. This policy applies equally to every guide regardless of subject, length, or author.
1.2
Editorial decisions, what to cover, how to cover it, when to update, and when to issue a correction, rest entirely with the editorial team. No advertiser, partner, or third party has influenced an editorial decision on this site, and none will.
1.3
Where a commercial relationship exists between the publication and any subject of a guide, it is disclosed at the top of that guide. Disclosure does not exempt the guide from any other clause of this policy.
1.4
Guides are written to remain useful long after publication. We do not publish news, trend commentary, or reactions to the day's events.

2.1
Every factual claim in a guide must be attributable to an identifiable source, and that source must be named and linked in the guide. Claims are not made on the publication's own authority.

2.2

Sources are preferred in the following order:

TIER	ACCEPTED SOURCES
I	Peer-reviewed studies; books by domain practitioners; official documentation from standards bodies and institutions; primary documents and records.
II	Reporting from established news organisations with named bylines and published corrections policies.
III	Subject-matter experts interviewed or quoted directly, with attribution and verifiable credentials.

2.3
The following are not accepted as sources: press releases republished as reporting; AI-generated summaries; other websites' paraphrases of original research; anonymous or unattributed “experts say” constructions.
2.4
Where evidence is contested, mixed, or thin, the guide says so and links to the principal positions. Speculation is labelled as speculation.

3.1
Every guide passes through four stages before publication. A stage is not complete until its condition is met; no stage may be skipped.

3.2

STAGE	WHAT HAPPENS	CONDITION TO PASS
1 Research	A writer with domain familiarity works from the source hierarchy in §2.2 and produces an outline.	Tier I–III sources identified for every planned claim.
2 Drafting	Sources are collected as the draft is written, not added afterwards to justify conclusions already reached.	Every claim carries a citation.
3 Review	An editor checks every claim against its cited source, removes unsupported assertions and promotional language, and confirms the guide delivers what its title promises.	No claim without an identifiable source.
4 Final pass	Structural and readability review. The editor's name is attached to the guide through the site's editorial line.	Editor sign-off.

3.3
After publication, guides remain under review. A guide is revised when information changes, when a reader's correction is validated, or when the editorial team identifies that it has fallen behind current evidence or practice. Revisions are dated on the page.

4.1
Every guide is written by a person with demonstrable familiarity with its subject. Contributors are selected for knowledge of the specific topics they cover, not for general writing output.
4.2
Bylines name the contributor who produced the bulk of the work. Where the byline reads When Notes Fly Editorial, the editorial team collectively owns the research, writing, and accuracy of the guide.
4.3
Every guide, regardless of byline, is reviewed by an editor before publication under §3.

5.1
Guides are written and edited by people. We do not publish pieces that consist primarily of AI-generated prose. Human writers are responsible for the substantive reasoning, sourcing decisions, and final wording of everything we publish.
5.2
Software tools, search, citation management, grammar checking, outlining, may be used to support the workflow. They do not replace editorial judgement, source evaluation, or the accountability that attaches to human authorship, and they are never cited as sources.

6.1
When Notes Fly displays third-party advertising (currently Google AdSense). Advertisers do not influence editorial decisions, topic selection, or conclusions.
6.2
Editorial staff do not see advertiser inventory before publication and have no knowledge of which advertisers appear on which pages.
6.3
We do not accept payment for editorial coverage, sponsored content, or favourable mentions, under any arrangement.
6.4
Where a guide discusses a product, service, or organisation with which the publication or an editor has any commercial relationship, that relationship is disclosed at the top of the guide, per §1.3.

7.1
Our goal is to be accurate, not to protect a published record from correction. Readers who identify an error are asked to email editorial@whennotesfly.com with the URL and the specific issue. We aim to respond within five business days.

7.2

TYPE	ACTION
Material errorFactual error, misleading framing, claim fails source review	Guide updated; “Last updated” date added; note at the foot of the page describing what changed.
Superseded evidenceNew research or practice overtakes the guide	Guide revised; change logged with a date.
Minor fixTypo, small clarification	Fixed in place without notation.
RemovalDeleting a guide to avoid accountability	Not permitted.

7.3
Corrections are validated against primary sources before they are made. A reader's report does not by itself trigger a change; the evidence does.

Last reviewed May 2026.
Owner: When Notes Fly Editorial. Changes to this policy are themselves logged under §7.