Research & Fact-checking

SmartLiving’s research workflow starts with a specific reader question. The article record identifies the intended audience, jurisdiction, distinct angle and questions that the guide can reasonably answer. Titles in a content plan are assignments, not proof of keyword demand, commercial value or completed research.

Choose and record sources

For a completed guide, the working record includes four to eight relevant sources, with at least three primary sources where required by the project standard. We favor public agencies, regulators, original research and official product documentation when appropriate. A provider’s documentation is evidence of its stated features or terms; it is not an independent security audit or a universal product recommendation.

For each source we record the URL, access date and claim it supports. A visible publication or revision date is retained when available. Sources are assessed for scope as well as wording: jurisdiction, product, population and timing can determine whether a statement applies. An inaccessible or unclear source must not be described as fully verified.

Check numbers and comparisons

Original teaching examples are labelled hypothetical. Arithmetic is checked, assumptions are stated and omitted costs are identified when they affect interpretation. A simplified calculation is not a market quote, a regulated disclosure, a prediction of insurance claims or an individualized affordability assessment. Comparisons should align periods, included services and relevant conditions.

Review the article itself

Editorial checks look for unsupported claims, duplicated material, fabricated credentials and conclusions that exceed the evidence. Each guide includes a quick answer, useful headings, a comparison table, explanatory visual modules, common questions and source references. Internal links should lead to real relevant content or tools.

The guides have AI-assisted source and editorial checks. No individual professional review is claimed. Readers making consequential medical, legal, insurance or financial decisions should use the relevant qualified professional and primary documents for their own circumstances.

Run technical publication checks

Technical validation checks required fields, main-body length, question count, image identity, permitted HTML and archive-date bounds. Import uses stable article identifiers to avoid creating duplicates on reruns. Separate checks inspect links, article metadata, desk bylines and responsive presentation. These checks detect structural problems; they do not prove that every factual claim is correct.

Maintain a truthful publication record

Draft, source-checked, image-ready, imported, published and verified are separate states. Private previews are excluded from published totals. A new article’s actual publication time is recorded separately from its editorial archive date. Reports of errors can be sent through the contact page, with the relevant URL and a source where available.

Guide listings use the labelled editorial archive date, newest first. This ordering date does not claim that a newly written guide was publicly available in the past. Actual first-publication and update timestamps are recorded separately.