Editorial Policy
This page explains how The Charter decides what to publish, how we verify it, and what we will not do.
Our standard of evidence
Health writing is only useful if the reader can trust it. For every article that makes a factual claim about the body or the mind, we ask:
- Is there a primary source, and have we read it rather than a summary of it?
- Is the study in humans, and how large and how long was it?
- Was it peer reviewed, and who funded it?
- Does the finding hold up across other studies, or is it a single result?
- Are we describing a risk difference in a way a reader can actually interpret?
When a claim cannot meet that bar, we either attribute it clearly (“one small study suggests”) or we do not publish it.
Sourcing and quotes
We prefer named sources with relevant expertise. Anonymous sourcing is used only when a person faces a real risk in being named, and the reason is explained to readers. Quotes are not altered; they may be trimmed for length in a way that preserves meaning.
Headlines and framing
A headline must be supported by the article beneath it. We do not use “may”, “could” or “linked to” as a way of making a weak finding sound stronger, and we do not illustrate a story with an image that implies a result the research does not show.
Artificial intelligence
Articles are reported and written by people. We may use software for transcription, translation drafts, data cleaning or to search literature, but no article is generated by a model and published without a human reporting, checking and editing it. Any automated element that materially shapes a story is disclosed in that story.
Independence and conflicts
Editorial decisions are made by editorial staff alone. Advertisers, sponsors and outside owners have no sight of stories before publication and no right to change them. Where a writer has a personal or financial interest in a subject, it is disclosed in the article or the writer does not write it.
Sponsored content
Paid content is written or commissioned by the commercial side and is labelled “Sponsored” at the top and in the listing. It is visually distinct from editorial and is never presented as reporting. See the advertising policy.
Updates and corrections
Articles carry a publication date. When a story changes materially — new evidence, a significant development, a corrected fact — we add an update note explaining what changed and when. Errors are handled under the corrections policy.
Complaints
If you believe we have got something wrong, the contact page reaches the editors directly. We would rather hear it from you than not hear it at all.
