Editorial Policy

This page explains how Future & Facts chooses, prepares, checks and corrects what we publish. We want you to know exactly how our articles are made, so you can decide how much to trust them.

Our standards

• Accuracy first. We only state facts that appear in our sources. We do not invent facts, numbers, names, dates or quotes. If the available information is unclear or too thin, we do not publish the story.
• Our own words. Every article is written fresh. We never copy sentences or paragraphs from other publications. When a short quote is essential, we keep it brief, put it in quotation marks and credit its source.
• Sources you can check. Every article ends with a “Sources” list linking to the original material, so you can read it yourself.
• Explain, don’t hype. We aim to add real value: plain-language explanations, background, and a “Why it matters” section — not just a repeat of the headline.
• Clear headlines. Our headlines describe what the article says. We avoid clickbait and exaggeration.

Where our stories come from

We look for topics in public, reputable sources: official space and science agencies (such as NASA and ESA), research papers (such as those on arXiv), official company blogs and press releases, government websites and established news outlets. We also use public signals — for example, how many reputable outlets cover a story, or how much attention a topic receives on public discussion sites — to decide what readers are most interested in. We never copy content from discussion sites and never publish the names or posts of their users.

Readers’ questions also shape our explainers. If you have a question you would like us to answer, please contact us.

How we use AI — our honest disclosure

Future & Facts uses AI tools (including Anthropic’s Claude) to help prepare articles. Here is how it works:

1. We collect facts from the sources listed with each article.
2. An AI system drafts the article in our own words, using only those facts, following our editorial rules.
3. Automated quality checks reject drafts that are too short, lack sources, repeat text from a source, include numbers that are not in the sources, or use misleading headlines.
4. Our editor, Ravi Franklin, oversees the whole process: he sets the rules the system follows, decides how much is published, reviews articles, and corrects or removes anything that falls short of our standards.

AI can make mistakes. That is why every article lists its sources, why we keep publishing volume deliberately low, and why we take corrections seriously. If you spot an error, please tell us — see our Corrections Policy.

Images

We only use images we are allowed to use: public-domain images (for example from NASA), images with an open licence (with the required credit), images from licensed stock libraries, or our own branded graphics. We do not take photos from news articles. Each image shows its credit and, where relevant, its licence.

Independence

Our editorial decisions are made by our editor alone. We do not accept payment to publish or change articles. At the moment we publish no sponsored content and no affiliate links. If we ever add advertising or partnerships, advertisements will be clearly separated from our articles, and any sponsored content will be clearly labelled.

Updates and corrections

When a story develops, we may update the article and show an “Updated” date. When we get something wrong, we fix it and say so. Our Corrections Policy explains how.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email connect@ravifranklin.com.