This page sets out how guides on Alinekart are researched, written, checked and corrected. It is a working document, not a mission statement — if we break one of these rules, you are entitled to hold us to it.
What we claim, and what we do not
Alinekart publishes research-led buying guides. We explain specifications, standards, materials and trade-offs so that a reader can evaluate a product themselves.
We do not operate a testing laboratory. We do not buy, borrow or receive products for review, and we never describe hands-on experience we have not had. You will not find a sentence on this site claiming we ran twenty vacuum cleaners across the same carpet, because we did not.
This is a deliberate trade. It means we cannot tell you which specific model performed best last quarter. It also means that nothing on this site depends on you trusting an unverifiable account of a test, and that our guides stay accurate as models are discontinued and replaced.
Sourcing
Factual claims are traced to one of the following, in descending order of weight:
- A published standard or test method. If an article says a filter is rated MERV 13, the meaning of MERV 13 comes from ASHRAE 52.2, not from a manufacturer’s paraphrase of it. The same applies to AHAM AC-1 for CADR, NSF/ANSI standards for water treatment claims, and UL or ETL listings for electrical safety.
- A regulator or public health body. For anything touching health or safety — coatings, combustion, indoor air, drinking water — we use the EPA, FDA, CPSC, CDC or their equivalents in preference to any commercial source.
- Manufacturer technical documentation. Spec sheets, service manuals and installation instructions, not marketing copy.
- Published independent testing, cited so that you can read it yourself and see its method.
Where sources disagree, we say so rather than picking the convenient one.
The rule about gaps
When a guide needs a number we cannot verify, we do not estimate it and we do not write around it with a vague phrase. We state that the figure varies by model and tell you where to find it on the product you are actually considering. An honest gap is more useful than a confident invention, and it is the single rule on this page we are least willing to bend.
The same applies to anything that would imply experience we lack. No fabricated client stories, no invented survey results, no borrowed statistics without a citation, no round numbers presented as findings.
Review before publication
Every guide is checked against four questions before it goes live. Does every factual claim have a traceable source? Does the article answer the question a reader actually arrived with, in the first screen rather than the fifth? Is there anything stated as fact that is really an opinion or a preference? And would a knowledgeable specialist in that category read it without wincing?
Guides that fail any of these are held back rather than published thin and improved later.
Updates and corrections
Standards are revised, regulations change and products are reformulated. Guides covering a changeable subject are re-checked against their primary sources on a rolling basis, and the date of the last substantive review appears on the article.
When we correct a material error, we fix it in the body of the article and add a dated note at the foot explaining what changed. We do not silently edit a claim and leave the page looking as though it always said the new thing. Trivial fixes — a typo, a broken link — are made without a note.
To report an error, write to hello@alinekart.com with the URL and the sentence in question.
Independence
No advertiser, affiliate program or brand has any input into what we publish, which products we discuss, or how we characterize them. We do not sell placement in a guide, we do not publish sponsored articles or paid reviews, and we do not accept guest posts. Commercial arrangements are described in full in our Advertising and Affiliate Disclosure.
Scope, and what this is not
Our guides are general consumer information. They are not professional advice. Anything involving your home’s electrical system, gas appliances, structural work, water supply or medical needs should be put to a licensed professional who can see the actual installation. Where a subject carries real risk, we say so in the article rather than leaving you to work it out.
Editorial responsibility
Alinekart is edited by Amara Taylor, based in California, United States, who is responsible for everything published here.