1. Editorial mission
AFDES publishes research, analysis, commentary, educational materials, and public-interest resources on democracy, governance, elections, human rights, public policy, international affairs, and civic leadership.
Our goal is to help readers understand institutions, public decisions, political movements, international developments, and their impact on society.
2. Independence
Editorial judgment should be independent from donors, advertisers, sponsors, political actors, institutions, campaigns, and outside pressure. Financial support, partnerships, or institutional relationships should not determine AFDES editorial conclusions.
3. Accuracy and verification
AFDES aims to publish accurate, clearly reasoned, and responsibly sourced work. Writers and editors should verify factual claims, distinguish facts from analysis, and avoid presenting speculation as certainty.
- Facts should be checked against reliable sources whenever possible.
- Documents, statistics, quotes, and public claims should be presented with context.
- Headlines, excerpts, images, and captions should accurately reflect the underlying article.
- Uncertainty should be stated clearly when information is incomplete or developing.
4. Sourcing and attribution
AFDES values transparent sourcing. Articles should identify sources when appropriate and link to public documents, official records, research, datasets, interviews, public statements, or credible reporting when available.
Anonymous sourcing should be used carefully and only when there is a meaningful public-interest reason to protect the source.
5. Analysis, opinion, and commentary
AFDES publishes analysis and commentary as part of its civic mission. Opinion and analysis may express a viewpoint, but they should be grounded in facts, reasonable interpretation, evidence, and fair representation of relevant context.
Commentary should not intentionally mislead readers, distort facts, or make unsupported personal attacks.
6. Fairness and public responsibility
AFDES seeks to discuss public affairs with seriousness, proportionality, and respect for human dignity. We should avoid sensationalism, dehumanizing language, plagiarism, fabricated claims, manipulated evidence, and unsupported allegations.
Our standard is not false balance between truth and falsehood. Our standard is evidence, fairness, clarity, and responsible civic judgment.
7. Corrections and updates
If AFDES identifies a material error, we aim to correct it promptly and transparently. Depending on the significance of the correction, we may update the article text, add a correction note, clarify language, or publish a separate update.
Readers may report possible errors through the contact page. Please include the article title, link, the issue identified, and any supporting information.
8. Conflicts of interest
Writers, editors, contributors, and affiliated researchers should disclose meaningful conflicts that could affect coverage, including financial, political, professional, organizational, or personal relationships connected to a topic.
9. Contributor standards
Contributors are expected to submit original work, attribute sources properly, avoid plagiarism, respect privacy and safety concerns, and follow AFDES editorial standards. Submission does not guarantee publication.
10. Digital tools and artificial intelligence
AFDES may use digital tools, including artificial intelligence tools, to support research organization, transcription, editing, translation, formatting, accessibility, or workflow efficiency. Human editorial judgment remains responsible for final publication decisions.
AI-generated or AI-assisted material should not be published as fact without human review, source verification, and editorial responsibility.
11. Contact the editorial team
Correction requests, editorial concerns, article pitches, contributor inquiries, and questions about this policy may be sent through the contact page.
Contact AFDES