Our Source Principles
- Verifiability: Every claim must be supported by a reliable, publicly available source.
- Credibility: We prefer primary and peer-reviewed materials over secondary commentary.
- Transparency: Readers should always be able to trace where our information comes from.
- Balance: When multiple perspectives exist, we summarize them fairly and cite accordingly.
Types of Sources We Use
- Academic research: Peer-reviewed papers, historical journals, and scientific publications.
- Official institutions: Data from museums, government archives, international organizations, and research institutes.
- Open data: Public datasets such as NASA, WHO, World Bank, or Wikidata.
- Verified news archives: Established media outlets used for historical reference, not commentary.
- Primary documents: Patents, letters, photographs, and other first-hand records.
How We Handle Data
All datasets and references are reviewed before integration. We remove personally identifiable information and avoid using materials that violate privacy or copyright. Data is stored securely and used solely to build factual, aggregated timelines.
We sometimes process publicly available structured data to generate visual summaries or charts. These visualizations never include personal or sensitive information.
Open Access and Attribution
Whenever possible, we credit original authors and link directly to the source. If a dataset or document is licensed under Creative Commons or an open license, we honor those terms and display proper attribution. Readers are encouraged to explore the original works to deepen their understanding.
Corrections and Updates
If a source is later found to be inaccurate or withdrawn, we revise our content accordingly and update the reference. Transparency in sourcing is part of our broader Corrections & Feedback Policy.
Third-Party Tools and APIs
We may use third-party APIs for data visualization or validation (for example, open historical datasets or mapping tools). These tools never collect personal information from users; they simply help present factual context visually.
Contact for Source Questions
If you have questions about a citation, dataset, or reference, or wish to suggest additional reliable sources, please email us at support@timeline-s.com. We welcome collaboration with researchers and institutions who share our commitment to open knowledge.