Editorial standards
These standards apply identically to every company in the record. They are published so that any reader can check our work against them.
Research begins from publicly available information only: court dockets, agency enforcement databases, regulatory filings, corporate disclosures, and established reporting. A researcher assembles candidate records, extracts the underlying primary document wherever one exists, and attaches it to a draft event. Nothing enters the public record from a summary alone when the underlying document is obtainable.
Every documented event carries a title, summary, date, category, status, evidence strength, primary sources, secondary sources, supporting documents, an AI-assisted summary, administrator notes, any company response, and a full version history.
AI assists research. It reads long public documents, extracts structure, drafts neutral summaries, and proposes citations. It never publishes, never assigns a status, and never draws a legal conclusion. Every AI-assisted output is labeled as such and remains in Draft until a human administrator reviews the underlying sources and approves publication.
Tier 4 sources may generate research leads. They never independently establish a factual finding on this platform, and no deduction in the Accountability Index may rest on a Tier 4 source.
Statuses are never collapsed. A complaint is an allegation. An inquiry is not a finding. A consent order resolves a matter without a liability finding. A judgment on appeal is not final. Plumbline labels each documented event with exactly one status from a fixed list: Reported, Alleged, Complaint Filed, Under Investigation, Settlement, Judgment, Regulatory Finding, Appeal Pending, Dismissed, Resolved, Retracted.
Documented evidence and public opinion live in separate systems. Community sentiment appears on a company profile, is labeled clearly, and never affects any Accountability Index score. Editorial notes published under Research are identified as commentary about the methodology, not as findings about a company.
Anyone may request a correction. Requests must identify the specific published statement and the reason it is inaccurate. Requests supported by Tier 1 documentation are reviewed first. Every outcome, including a decision not to amend, is recorded in the audit log with a timestamp and reviewer, and published on the Corrections page. Amended events retain their prior versions.
Verified company representatives may submit official statements, corrections, additional context, and supporting documentation. Responses are published alongside the documented evidence and are not edited for substance. Representatives cannot remove, reorder, or rewrite documented evidence.
Roles are Owner, Administrator, Researcher, Reviewer, Moderator, Verified Company Representative, and Public User. Researchers draft. Reviewers check sources. Moderators handle community content. Only Administrators and Owners may publish. Every edit, approval, correction, publication, deletion, and role change is written to an immutable audit log with a timestamp and reviewer.