Boomer Central’s Editorial Standards
We are sharing our editorial standards that guide our contributors’ and staff’s work. We are posting them publicly so you will know what our goals are and to be open and transparent.
BoomerCentral will post information about products and services. It is our mission is to save readers time and eliminate the stress of shopping by posting relevant information that supports our core values are in service of that goal. We often receive a commission or referral fee if you purchase products and services from those who are listed on our website.
We always work with complete editorial independence, as the most important thing to us is reader trust. We want to help people choose the tools in their life wisely, quickly, and painlessly. We achieve this by attempting to find a wide variety of products and services that the Boomer generation will be interested in.
These editorial standards are a living document composed of practical guidelines based on a set of broad reporting and ethical standards that we use to maintain reader trust: accuracy, honesty, impartiality, independence, sensitivity and inclusivity, and transparency. The aim of these guidelines is to help BoomerCentral journalists make judgments that are in line with our values and mission.
What our contributors and staff agree to do:
Ethical Standards
We will present information honestly. We will do our best to avoid conflicts of interest. We will avoid plagiarism. We will be transparent about corrections and fix errors as swiftly as possible. We will be sensitive to ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic status, disabilities or medical conditions, gender and sexual orientation. We will preserve our editorial independence with regard to the products that are advertised or promoted on our website. We will be mindful on social media as we are perceived as a representative of BoomerCentral. This includes being mindful of expressing partisan opinions or promoting political views in public.
Accuracy
We will do our best to ensure our readers’ trust in the accuracy of the information we present.
Using Authoritative Sources
We will do our best to use experts and knowledgeable sources and consult authoritative primary sources and secondary sources a practicable.
Safety
If we are discussing product safety, we will include information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, rather than a retailer website.
When we are discussing health information, we will include information from the CDC, FDA, AMA, or other relevant professional medical body, for instance, rather than an individual article or a popular health website.
Websites
We will do our best to refer to only legitimate websites that are transparent and clearly explain the mission of the individual or organization.
Scientific Studies
When referencing a scientific study, we will do our best to use only peer-reviewed studies, those that are checked by other scientists.
Recalls and Safety Alerts
When we become aware of a recall or safety alert on a product in one of our guides, we add a note to the guide with the specific details, and we provide relevant links for readers to learn more about the recall.
How We Present Information
We don’t plagiarize others’ work. If we are including information verbatim from a source, we put quotation marks around it and give proper attribution so that the source is clear; this applies whether the quoted information appears within the text, in a caption, or as a pull quote.
Profanity and Offensive Language
We will strive to avoid offensive language and profanity in our content.
Policy on Affiliate Revenue
Our business makes its money primarily through affiliate revenue. This means that if people trust our recommendations, and if they then purchase—and keep—the things we review, we make money. But if they return bad products, we make nothing. That’s why reader trust is paramount. Without it, we have no business.
Privacy and Security
We intend to protect the privacy of those who visit our website. We will collect information such as an email address, only with consent of the owner. We disclose the use of any private or personal information we receive and will honor any request to delete the information and cease from using it in our business. This applies to any private data stored, such as health data, financial information, a Social Security number, and anything else that easily identifies a person. With security coverage, our goal is to outline best practices and to hold most companies to the same standards.
Courtesy
We will be courteous to our readers, even when we think they are wrong and respond to criticism of our work constructively, or pass it to our community team to respond to.