This page is the standard every Dovelyne article is held to. It is public so you can hold us to it.
Evidence is stated, never implied
Every article carries an evidence level, shown in the “how we checked this” box near the end. There are six:
| Level | What it means |
|---|---|
| Hands-on tested | We used the product ourselves and kept a dated test record |
| Researched | Built from manufacturer specifications, retailer listings in the market concerned and independent sources. Not tested by us |
| Editorial comparison | Our own comparison of the options. No product was tested for the article |
| Owner reported | Reflects what owners consistently report over time. Individual results vary |
| Independent demo | Draws on hands-on testing published by a third party, which is cited |
| Researched guide | A guide to what matters when choosing, built from specifications and official sources |
The distinction between the first and the rest is the one that matters. “Hands-on tested” is blocked in our publishing system until a dated test record exists for that product. It is not a phrase a writer can simply type.
Where facts come from
Claims about money, safety, health, school rules or legal entitlements are sourced to the body that actually sets them in the country concerned: the relevant government department or agency, the consumer protection or product safety regulator, the education authority for that state or region, a recognised animal welfare or veterinary body, or the manufacturer’s own documentation.
These bodies differ from country to country, and often from state to state within one country. Where a rule is local, the article names the place it applies to and the body that set it, rather than writing as though one country’s rule were universal.
We do not cite another blog as a source for a fact. We do not quote a statistic we cannot trace to its origin. We do not invent owner quotes, testimonials, survey results or benchmark figures, and there are automated checks in our pipeline that refuse to publish content containing them.
Sources are listed on the page, with the date each was retrieved.
Safety
Content is graded for safety risk before it is written.
Anything touching child health, pet health, medication, allergies, choking, sleep, car restraints, electrical work or financial hardship is treated as high risk. Those articles carry a visible notice, avoid prescriptive instruction, and point to a professional. Some topics are simply not published, whatever the search demand.
Pet health sits at the same gate as child health. A wrong answer about a dog’s diet is not a smaller problem than a wrong answer about a child’s.
Safety guides never carry affiliate links. Not “rarely”: never. The commercial system is switched off for that content type entirely.
Commercial separation
Commercial arrangements never influence editorial judgement.
- An affiliate commission cannot move a verdict, a ranking, or a safety position
- Sponsored articles are labelled as sponsored, and never carry a review verdict
- A brand partnership is labelled as a partnership, and editorial control stays with us
- Disclosure is generated by the system from the links actually on the page, so it cannot be forgotten or misapplied
Freshness
Articles carry a published date and, where they have been revised, an updated date.
Prices carry the date they were checked. After roughly two months a price softens to a range rather than a figure; after four it disappears and the article tells you to check the current price. An old exact price is worse than no price.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, we want to know, and we would rather hear it from you than not hear it.
Factual errors are corrected as soon as they are confirmed. A correction that changes the meaning of an article is noted on the article itself rather than quietly edited away. Send it through the contact page.
Artificial intelligence
We use automation in research, drafting and production. Every article is checked against the rules on this page before it is published, and the standards above apply identically whether a sentence was drafted by a person or a machine. Responsibility for what is published sits with us either way.
We do not publish AI-generated product photographs presented as real, or fabricated screenshots of a product or a retailer.