Conflict-of-interest policy

What counts as a conflict

A conflict or source-proximity risk exists when an editor or contributor has materially participated in creating, operating, funding, training, curating, publishing, promoting, or opposing the subject being documented.

Disclosure

Relevant participation, financial interests, operational control, authorship, advocacy, and privileged source access must be disclosed. First-party and affiliated records may still be used as primary evidence, but they are identified as such and are not represented as independent confirmation.

Review

• Separate documentary chronology from canonical, promotional, and hostile accounts.
• Prefer independently preserved records and external sources where available.
• State which evidence is public, participant-held, or unavailable.
• Record unresolved objections and avoid inflated certainty.
• Seek independent review when feasible without implying that it occurred when it did not.

Outcomes

A conflict may result in additional disclosure, narrower claims, lower confidence, independent review, reassignment, delayed publication, or exclusion of material. When adequate editorial independence cannot be established, publication may be deferred or declined.