Below are the comprehensive guidelines that alisonchristian.com adheres to regarding the sources featured on our website, the types of content we accept from these sources, our preferred editorial style, and our approach to clarifications, corrections, and retractions.
Sources
At alisonchristian.com, we prioritize not-for-profit sources that are scholarly and are widely recognized within their respective academic communities. Typically, we collaborate with public information officers representing their institutions’ media relations or public affairs departments rather than individual researchers who may not officially represent their organizations. While we typically do not accept news releases from for-profit companies, we are open to considering them if the content primarily pertains to scientific topics.
Content
While we welcome submissions of news releases, it’s important to note that we cannot guarantee the posting of every release we receive. We strive to select releases that we believe will be most relevant and interesting to our readers. Typically, we prioritize new research findings, especially those tied to peer-reviewed journal articles, or descriptions of newsworthy research projects. We are less likely to feature releases related to grant awards unless the focus is on the significance of the award, rather than just acknowledging the amount and source. We generally do not publish releases about appointments, honors, meeting notices, or administrative announcements.
Editorial Style
Our goal is to minimize substantial edits to the original news releases when we publish them on alisonchristian.com. However, we retain the right to make certain changes for the sake of clarity and consistency. For instance, we correct spelling and grammatical errors, though we usually do not alter country-specific spelling styles (e.g., “colour” vs. “color”) in the main body of the text. We routinely rework headlines and summaries to enhance clarity and conciseness, but our editing process aims to preserve the original intent of the submitted release.
Clarifications, Corrections, and Retractions
Occasionally, posts may require corrections after they have been published. This could be due to factual errors or omissions of crucial information. We encourage public information officers responsible for a release to reach out to us with any requested corrections. Researchers mentioned in a release are also welcome to contact us directly, but we recommend they coordinate with their public information offices to ensure that any corrections apply not only to alisonchristian.com but also to other news outlets that may have shared the release.
Readers and other concerned parties are also invited to notify us of errors. For relatively minor corrections, such as spelling, grammar, or clear factual errors, we may make these adjustments independently. However, please be aware that significant changes to posts, requested by third parties, will typically require collaboration with the original sources of the posts in question. This approach is especially relevant when individuals or groups take issue with specific research findings or conclusions. In such cases, we encourage those requesting substantial changes to engage with the original sources. As a general rule, if the original source agrees to a change, we will incorporate that change into alisonchristian.com’s post.
In rare circumstances, alisonchristian.com may retract a post entirely, removing it from our website. This decision might be made if a journal retracts a study or if there are significant concerns regarding research integrity.
These guidelines reflect our commitment to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the information presented on alisonchristian.com while ensuring transparency in our editorial processes. We appreciate the collaboration of our partners, researchers, and readers in upholding these standards.
