Editorial Policy

This page sets out how eGov Review decides what to publish, how we handle mistakes, and what we will not do. It is the standard we expect readers to hold us to.

Where we stand

We hold no affinity to and no grudge against any department, supplier or programme we write about. We report on all of them and we stand equidistant from them. To inform is our part; to decide what it means is the reader's.

We do not push a position through our reporting. Where we hold a view we publish it as opinion and label it as opinion, so that a reader is never left guessing whether they are reading what we found or what we think.

What we publish

We publish reporting on technology in public services: what is being built, what it costs, whether it works, and who it affects. We publish analysis where we can add something a reader could not work out themselves. We publish news of the sector's people, events and organisations.

We do not publish press releases as news. Where a story begins with an announcement, we say so, and we do the work of checking it before it goes out under our name.

Quoting and attribution

Where we draw on someone else's reporting or research we quote a part of it, never the whole, we say whose it is, and we link to the original so a reader can go and read it. Attribution is not a courtesy here, it is the rule.

Accuracy and sources

We verify before we publish. Where a claim is contested, we say who is making it and on what basis. Where we cannot verify something we think matters, we either say that plainly or we hold the story.

We name our sources wherever we can. We grant anonymity only where a source faces a real risk in speaking and the information is in the public interest, and a second person on the desk agrees.

Corrections

We will get things wrong. When we do we own it, fix it, and try to learn from it. We correct errors of fact promptly and visibly. A corrected article says what was wrong and when it was put right, at the foot of the piece; we do not quietly edit a mistake out of existence. If you believe something we have published is wrong, tell us through the contact form and we will look at it.

Independence

Our reporting is not for sale. We do not accept payment to publish, to withhold, or to shape a story, and no advertiser, sponsor or subject sees a story before it is published.

Where we have a relationship with an organisation we are writing about, whether commercial, personal or professional, we disclose it in the story itself.

Artificial intelligence

We do not publish machine-written articles under a human byline. Where we use software to help with research, transcription or sub-editing, a person remains responsible for every published word and for checking it.

The line between news and opinion

Opinion is labelled as opinion. A reader should never have to guess whether they are reading what we found or what we think.