Standard E-01
Useful before monetized
The reader's task determines the page. A commission opportunity does not justify a recommendation that does not improve the answer.
Document control · policy E-01
Editorial & Affiliate Policy
How the Bureau selects, researches, labels, monetizes, and corrects its work—without letting a commission turn a recommendation into an incident.
Commercial status register
What is active now
This page describes the operating rule and the present state separately. A future relationship does not become active merely because the policy anticipates it.
The policy page is not the disclosure
When a page contains commission-earning links, the relationship will be explained in plain language where the reader encounters the recommendation. A footer link to this policy cannot replace that nearby disclosure.
Editorial charter
Six rules for every file
The Bureau is a fictional entertainment brand. Its research, product guidance, and commercial labels still have to be accurate and understandable.
Standard E-02
Harmless by scope
The joke stays with mundane, low-stakes events. Emergencies, crimes, medical events, accusations, and private grievances are outside the archive.
Standard E-03
Claims need evidence
Specifications, program rules, prices, and policies come from named sources and are dated when change would matter.
Standard E-04
Experience is never invented
We do not claim to own, test, wear, wash, ship, or receive service from a product unless that experience actually occurred and can be documented.
Standard E-05
Selection remains independent
Fit, usefulness, drawbacks, availability, and alternatives determine inclusion. A higher payout does not determine rank.
Standard E-06
Errors remain visible
Material errors receive a dated correction. Changed external facts are labelled as updates rather than rewritten as though nothing changed.
Relationship register
What each label means
Ownership, fulfilment, payment, and ordinary citation are different relationships. The page should identify the one that actually applies.
- Bureau product
- Original Minor Incident Bureau artwork or a personalized Bureau report.
- Identify the named marketplace and separate the Bureau's design role from the platform's production, checkout, delivery, and returns.
- Affiliate link
- The Bureau may receive a commission if a reader buys through the link.
- Disclose before the first recommendation and mark the paid URL
rel="sponsored nofollow". - Sponsored or gifted
- Money, a free item, a discount, or another benefit influenced the opportunity to cover the product.
- Name the material connection on the page or social post. The relationship does not guarantee praise or inclusion.
- Editorial citation
- A source link supplied for evidence or reader convenience with no material connection.
- Treat as an ordinary citation. Do not call it affiliate or sponsored when no paid relationship exists.
- AI-assisted work
- Software assisted research organization, drafting, editing, or illustration under human direction.
- Verify factual claims and rights, typeset production text manually, and disclose material automated assistance where context requires it.
Procedure A-05
Before an affiliate link can appear
Enrollment alone is insufficient. The destination, disclosure, content value, and technical link treatment must all pass.
Check 01
Verify enrollment
Record the active program and its approved tracking destination.
Check 02
Keep reader value
Add original criteria, tradeoffs, alternatives, and enough analysis to stand without the links.
Check 03
Disclose nearby
Explain the possible commission before the first paid recommendation in plain language.
Check 04
Qualify the URL
Apply sponsored and nofollow values to commissionable links, not to ordinary evidence.
Check 05
Recheck changeable facts
Date prices and program terms when used, then remove or revise stale destinations.
Research, automation & accountability
How a file reaches publication
Records Officer No. 17 is a disclosed fictional byline. Human-directed editorial responsibility remains with the publication.
Permitted assistance
- Idea expansion, research organization, outlines, copyediting, and consistency checks.
- Illustrative elements produced to the approved Bureau art direction and reviewed before use.
- Structured checks for links, taxonomy, metadata, accessibility, and internal consistency.
- Primary-source verification for changing specifications, rules, and platform policies.
Not accepted as evidence
- Generated citations, fabricated quotations, or unsourced product claims.
- Simulated personal testing, customer service, shipping, durability, or ownership experience.
- Merchant copy lightly rewritten into a thin buying guide.
- AI-generated production text baked into artwork without manual typesetting and review.
United States
FTC: Endorsement Guides—What People Are Asking
Last reviewed: 11 October 2026 · Next review: when an affiliate, sponsorship, or gifted-product relationship is activated
Accountability route
A policy needs an amendment procedure.
See how factual errors, changed information, and material corrections are classified and recorded.