Standards for ATTESTED Articles
- Factual statements are based on existing, verifiable sources. These are not limited to primary sources; specialist research, academic papers, reliable books, and materials from public bodies, publishers, and the like are also used.
- Facts, the views of third parties, and the author’s own inferences, interpretations, and evaluations are distinguished as far as possible. When views, interpretations, or evaluations found in existing sources are introduced, their originator and source are indicated.
- Articles may include the author’s own inferences, interpretations, criticism, and evaluations. These are not, however, presented as confirmed facts, and they are written so that readers can follow the reasoning that leads to each judgment from verifiable grounds such as the text of a work, primary sources, or existing research.
- Matters of fact that cannot be sufficiently substantiated are not stated definitively; instead, their degree of certainty is made clear by terms such as unknown, unconfirmed, disputed, or possible. Inferences, too, are not stated more conclusively than their grounds allow.
- Nonexistent persons, books, organizations, sources, events, and the like are never described as actually existing in reality. Fictional persons, books, and events contained in literary works and other creative works are treated in a way that makes clear they belong to the world of the work.
Scope of the Assurance
ATTESTED indicates that an article does not construct matters of fact through deliberate fiction or fabrication, and that its factual statements are based on verifiable sources. Where an article includes the views of third parties or the author’s own inferences, interpretations, or evaluations, the principle is that these are not to be confused with confirmed facts. However, the possibility of factual errors or errors of judgment arising from mistakes in the sources themselves, contradictions between sources, differences of interpretation, or oversights in research cannot be entirely ruled out. ATTESTED does not guarantee the absolute accuracy of an article’s content, nor that the interpretations or evaluations it contains are the only possible ones. If an error comes to light, it will be corrected.
Articles Without the ATTESTED Label
The absence of the ATTESTED label does not necessarily mean that an article is fictional or inaccurate. Viscera may leave this label off writing that deliberately blurs the boundary between fact and fiction, creative work, staged pieces, articles dealing with fictional persons, books, or cultures, and other articles to which the ATTESTED standards of verification have not been applied.
On the other hand, the inclusion of criticism, reflection, opinion, or original interpretation and evaluation is not in itself a reason for exclusion from ATTESTED. Where these are distinguished from factual statements and argued on the basis of verifiable texts, sources, research, and the like, articles that include criticism or reflection may also be labeled ATTESTED.
ATTESTED indicates an article whose factual statements are based on verifiable sources, which attributes third-party views appropriately, and which presents the author’s own inferences, interpretations, and evaluations without confusing them with fact.