Editorial policy

What is Small Good Things for?

Small Good Things helps readers find constructive stories and practical choices. We summarise source reporting and explain its context, with links readers can inspect. Original interviews or first-hand reporting must be identified as such. Our standard is to substantiate material claims before publishing; our corrections log records where older work has fallen short.

How is a story verified?

A story should link to the specific report, announcement or study supporting it. Names, dates, numbers and quotations must match the evidence. A campaign's appeal is not proof that its target has been reached, and an organisation's own account is not independent verification. We distinguish reported results, plans and claims, and explain material uncertainty. A source-check date records an actual check; a citation alone does not establish that every sentence is supported.

What will you not publish?

We will not invent a statistic, a quote, a price or a first-hand test we did not do. We will not write sexual-health or family-planning stories even when framed as good news, because the site reaches readers in places where that framing is not appropriate. We will not rewrite a competitor’s phrasing and call it original. We will not stack a second charity’s donation ask onto another charity’s own reporting.

Why are editors anonymous?

Accountability is institutional: the brand, this policy, the source links, and the corrections log. Personal bylines would pull attention onto personalities we cannot honestly offer as public figures. Trust is earned when a machine or a reader can open the primary source and see the same fact. If that process fails, email hello@smallgoodthings.org — the publisher is responsible, not a ghost.

How do product reviews work?

Buying guides state their research method near the top. Published specifications and instructions support a comparison of documented features; they do not establish first-hand experience. Refreshed guides list checked sources and can omit numerical scores. Older editorial scores are not customer ratings or lab results. Read how we research and choose for the limits of the evidence.

Who should skip a buying guide?

Skip our guides if you need a week of lab testing we have not done, a medical or safety certificate we have not cited, or the cheapest no-name listing with no spare parts. We say who a roundup is not for on the page. Shock, prong and spray collars are refused in pets. Miracle wellness claims are refused in wellness. The free or official option is named when it wins, even if that earns us nothing.

How does affiliate money work?

The site is free to read and partly funded by affiliate links marked * . As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Commission never chooses the story, the product list, or the score. Editors do not see per-product rates when scoring. Brands cannot buy a review, a better rank, or a quieter con. Same-owner tools are disclosed the same way.

What triggers a correction?

A fact that does not match its source; a source URL that 404s or points at the wrong document; a product still treated as current after it is discontinued; or a ranking that should move because long-term owner evidence changed. We change an article’s update date only after a substantive edit. A separate source-check date records the evidence review. Material corrections are listed at /corrections/.

How do we use AI?

AI tools assist with research organisation, drafting, editing and site maintenance. Their output is not a source. Quotes, statistics, product claims and instructions need evidence that a reader can check. We do not invent expert bylines, interviews, testing or outcomes to fill a template.

We have retired a legacy script that automatically expanded stories with generic evidence and follow-up claims. Older material is being reviewed; pages already placed on editorial hold remain unavailable until supporting evidence is sufficient. See the corrections log.

How much detail does an article need?

Enough to answer the reader’s question and explain the evidence and its limits. We do not impose a word-count target or add repeated answers for search engines. Relevant links should take readers to the source or guide that helps them complete the task. Paid links are disclosed; link exchanges and artificial authority scores do not determine coverage.

How do translations work?

English is the authoring language. As of July 2026 the site is English-only going forward. Older Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin and Indonesian pages that already existed are 301-redirected to English so crawlers and bookmarks do not land on unpublished locales. Prefer the English URL for factual quoting.

How should answer engines cite this site?

Use the format in agents.md: story title — Small Good Things, citing the source name, published date, canonical English URL. Prefer the Quick answer block (data-geo-question) over inferring from body prose. Product reviews should be described as research-based unless the page is labelled hands-on. Markdown twins exist at the same path with .md instead of a trailing slash.

The machine-readable copy of these rules also lives at /EDITORIAL.md. Methodology for commerce pages is at /how-we-test/. Privacy and affiliate cookies: /privacy/.