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Sources Policy

How we select, cite, and maintain the references behind every page.

Source Hierarchy

We prioritize sources in the following order:

  1. Official / Government — municipal codes, state statutes, federal regulations, census data.
  2. Legal — court opinions, regulatory guidance, bar association resources.
  3. Academic — peer-reviewed research, university publications.
  4. Industry — trade associations, licensed professional organizations.
  5. News / Reporting — reputable local and national journalism.

Citation Format

Every source citation includes:

  • Title — the name of the source document or dataset.
  • URL — a direct link when available.
  • Domain — the publishing domain for quick credibility assessment.
  • Type — categorized as official, legal, news, academic, or other.
  • Accessed date — when the source was last retrieved.

Source Freshness

Sources are checked for freshness during each verification cycle. If a source URL returns a 404 or the underlying data has changed materially, the page is flagged for review and the confidence score is adjusted until the source is updated or replaced.

What We Don't Use

  • Anonymous forums, user-generated content without editorial oversight.
  • Sponsored or affiliate content presented as editorial.
  • Sources behind paywalls that readers cannot independently verify.
  • Social media posts unless from official government or institutional accounts.

Reporting a Source Issue

If you notice a broken link, outdated source, or misrepresented citation, please let us know via our corrections page. We take source integrity seriously and investigate all reports promptly.