We would rather be accurate than fast. Here is how Aiko Trading Store checks facts and handles corrections — at every stage, from the moment a writer picks up a topic to the moment a reader flags an error years later.
Table of Contents
- How We Fact-Check
- Sources We Trust — and Sources We Question
- What Happens Before Publication
- What Happens After Publication
- How to Report an Error
- How We Handle Corrections
- Types of Corrections We Make
- Fact-Checking and Sponsored Content
- Updates Over Time
- Our Commitment to You
How We Fact-Check
Before an article is published, claims of fact — figures, dates, names, and statistics — are checked against reputable primary sources wherever possible. Where a topic is contested or evolving, we attribute claims and link to the original source so readers can verify for themselves. Articles covering specialised areas are written or reviewed by someone familiar with the subject.
Fact-checking is not a single step at the end of the writing process. It runs through the entire content lifecycle — from the brief a writer receives, through drafting and editing, to the final review before a piece goes live.
Every factual claim in an article is treated as something that needs to be supported, not assumed. If a writer cannot point to a credible source for a statement, that statement is either rewritten as opinion, qualified with appropriate caveats, or removed.
Sources We Trust — and Sources We Question
Not all sources carry the same weight. Here is how we think about source quality when checking facts.
Primary sources we prioritise
- Government and regulatory bodies: Official publications, reports, and data releases from government departments, central banks, regulatory agencies, and courts carry strong weight for legal, financial, and policy claims.
- Peer-reviewed research: Academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals are preferred for scientific and health-related claims, particularly when the findings have been replicated or reviewed independently.
- Original company disclosures: For business and financial content, we go directly to annual reports, earnings releases, press statements, and official regulatory filings rather than relying on secondhand summaries.
- Direct interviews and expert comment: When a subject is too recent or specific for published sources, we seek comment from people with direct knowledge of the topic.
Sources we treat with caution
- Single-source claims: If only one outlet is reporting a fact, we try to find corroborating sources before repeating it. Breaking news is especially vulnerable to early inaccuracies.
- Press releases and marketing materials: These are useful for facts about a company’s own actions, but we do not take product claims or industry statistics from marketing copy at face value.
- Aggregator sites and wikis: These can be useful starting points for research, but we trace claims back to their original source before using them in our content.
- Social media: Social posts — even from official accounts — can be edited, deleted, or taken out of context. Where a social post is relevant, we note its limitations or link to a more stable source.
- AI-generated content and summaries: We do not treat AI-generated summaries as factual sources. Any figure or claim that originates from an AI tool is independently verified before use.
What Happens Before Publication
Every article goes through a structured review before it is published. This is not a formality — it is a genuine check designed to catch errors before they reach readers.
Writer’s responsibility
The writer is the first line of fact-checking. They are expected to verify every claim they make, keep notes on their sources, and flag any areas of uncertainty to the editor. If a writer is not confident that a claim is accurate, they must not publish it as fact.
Editorial review
Before publication, an editor reads the piece with accuracy in mind — not just style and structure. The editor checks that factual claims are supported, that statistics are cited, that dates and names are correct, and that the overall framing of the article is fair and accurate.
For topics that require specialist knowledge — finance, legal matters, health, technology — we aim to have the content reviewed by someone with relevant expertise. This may be a staff member with a background in the area, or an external contributor.
Linked sources
Where a claim can be linked to its original source, we link to it. This lets readers verify information for themselves without having to take our word for it. We prefer direct links to primary sources over links to secondary coverage.
What Happens After Publication
Our fact-checking responsibility does not end when an article goes live. Several things can make a published article inaccurate over time:
- New research contradicts an earlier finding
- A law, regulation, or official figure is updated
- A company changes its product, pricing, or policy
- An event we reported on develops in a new direction
- A source we relied on is later shown to be inaccurate
We monitor our highest-traffic content for changes in the underlying facts and update articles when we identify a problem proactively. We also rely on readers to flag issues we may have missed — which is why the reporting process below matters.
How to Report an Error
If you spot something inaccurate, please tell us through the contact page or email guestpostadvertising@gmail.com. Include the article URL and a short description of the issue, and a source if you have one. We review every report we receive.
The more detail you can give us, the faster we can investigate. The most useful correction reports include:
- The full URL of the article in question
- A quote of the specific sentence or figure you believe is wrong
- What you believe the correct information to be
- A link to a credible source supporting the correct version, if you have one
You do not need a source to submit a report. Even a straightforward “I think this figure is wrong” is enough for us to start investigating. We will do our own verification.
We treat every correction report seriously, regardless of how it is worded. Readers who flag errors are doing us a genuine service, and we appreciate it.
How We Handle Corrections
When we confirm an error, we fix it promptly. For minor typos or formatting we simply update the article. For errors that affect the meaning or facts of a piece, we correct the content and note that a correction was made, so the change is transparent to readers. Serious factual errors are prioritised and addressed as quickly as we can verify the correct information.
Here is the process we follow from the moment a correction report comes in:
- Acknowledge: We log the report and, where the reporter has left contact details, send a brief acknowledgement to confirm we have received it.
- Investigate: We check the original sources used for the article and the source provided by the reporter (if any). We aim to reach a conclusion on whether an error exists within one to three working days for routine reports, and faster for anything that could cause harm if left uncorrected.
- Correct: If the error is confirmed, we update the article. The nature of the update depends on the type of error — see the section below.
- Document: We maintain an internal log of corrections made, including the original text, the corrected text, the date of the correction, and the source of the report. This helps us identify patterns — for example, if a particular type of claim consistently needs correcting, we adjust how we handle that claim type in future.
- Respond: Where the reporter left contact details and a correction is confirmed, we send a follow-up to let them know the outcome.
Types of Corrections We Make
Not every error is the same, and the way we correct it reflects the severity of the mistake.
Minor corrections
Typos, spelling errors, punctuation mistakes, and small formatting issues are fixed silently. These do not affect the meaning of the article and do not require a correction notice.
Factual corrections
When a factual error — a wrong figure, an incorrect date, a misattributed quote, a name spelled incorrectly — is identified, we correct the specific error and add a brief correction note at the bottom of the article. The note states what was wrong, what the correct information is, and the date it was corrected. The original incorrect text is not preserved.
Example format: Correction (12 August 2026): An earlier version of this article stated that the policy took effect in 2023. The correct date is 2024. We have updated the article accordingly.
Material corrections
A material correction is one that changes the substance or conclusion of the article — not just a detail. This might include a misrepresented study, a key statistic that was significantly wrong, or a claim about a person or company that turns out to be incorrect in a way that changes the meaning of the piece.
For material corrections, we correct the content, add a prominent correction notice at the top of the article (not just the bottom), and, where appropriate, share the correction through the same channels where the original article was distributed.
Retractions
In rare cases where an article is fundamentally wrong in a way that cannot be corrected by editing — for example, if it was based on a source that has since been shown to be fabricated — we may retract the article entirely. A retraction notice replaces the original content, explaining what was published, why it has been retracted, and when the decision was made.
Retraction is a last resort. We do not retract articles simply because a subject finds them unflattering, or because a sponsor or partner requests it. Retractions are reserved for genuine failures of accuracy or ethics.
Fact-Checking and Sponsored Content
Sponsored articles and partner content are subject to the same fact-checking standards as our editorial content. We do not publish factual claims in sponsored content that we have not been able to verify. If a sponsor submits content that contains unsubstantiated statistics, misleading product claims, or inaccurate information, we ask them to revise it before publication — or we decline to publish.
Accepting payment for a piece of content does not mean we accept the content uncritically. Every sponsored article goes through an editorial review before it goes live. You can read more about how we handle paid content in our Sponsored Content Policy.
If a factual error is found in a sponsored article after publication, it is corrected using the same process and labeling as any other article. The commercial relationship with the sponsor does not affect how or whether we correct the record.
Updates Over Time
Separately from corrections, we revisit older articles and refresh them when information changes — see our Editorial Policy for how we produce and maintain content.
Updates differ from corrections in an important way. A correction fixes something that was wrong at the time of publication. An update reflects information that has changed since publication — a figure that has been revised, a law that has been amended, a product that has been discontinued.
When we make a significant update to an article, we note the date the article was last reviewed or updated. This helps readers understand whether the information is current.
Our Commitment to You
Getting things right is not a box we tick — it is the foundation that makes this site worth reading. Readers who rely on our content to make decisions deserve accurate information. When we fall short of that, we fix it as transparently and promptly as we can.
We will not always be perfect. But we will always be honest about our mistakes, and we will always take the steps needed to correct them.
If you have a question about this policy, or want to report an error, reach out via our contact page. We read everything.
