Editorial Standards

For every source, Fathom asks one question: did this source create this knowledge, or is it reporting on someone else’s work? When the original is in the research, the article cites the original.

When a topic calls for it, Fathom searches federal court records and patent filings. They’re cited by case name and document type, never by the website that hosts them.

Sales pages, filler lists and off-topic pages are skipped when Fathom chooses what to read.

A page that says “experts say” without saying which experts gets flagged and taken out of the research before writing starts.

If the original can’t be reached, Fathom links the best source it could read and names who originally said it, right in the sentence.

So do surprising claims, standards and regulations. Plain explanations and common knowledge don’t need one.

The linked words are the claim itself. Sources are named in the sentence when it matters who said it: an expert view, a disagreement, a direct quote.

Never “research suggests,” “studies show” or “experts say.” If a claim matters, it names its source.

Dead pages are sent for recovery or dropped, and a site’s homepage is never accepted as a citation.

After writing, any link whose page isn’t in the research, or whose words don’t match its source, is removed. The sentence stays; the link goes.

When a page doesn’t answer a question, the answer stays blank. It is never guessed.

Figures are carried through exactly as the source states them. Never rounded, never generalized.

If a claim can’t be tied to a specific source, it’s written as general background or cut entirely.

When an article mentions your business, Fathom never invents services or credentials you don’t have.

Fathom searches for counterarguments, limitations and dissenting views from credible sources on every topic.

When sources conflict, the article says so or goes with the more authoritative source.

Analysis pieces are labeled as analysis. Opinion pieces present the strongest counterargument fairly. Reviews disclose any conflict of interest.

For business articles, competitor sources aren’t cited, and their brand names become “industry data.”

Articles never claim a profession for the writer, because the byline is yours.

Every article comes to you for review. Open the sources panel, check any claim, then publish to WordPress or Ghost.

The everyday word comes first and the technical term after. One number at a time. Paragraphs follow the thought.

Articles aren’t stretched to hit a word count, and there’s no empty “Conclusion” section repeating what you just read.

The final editing pass improves rhythm and clarity but leaves every fact and every link exactly as it was.

Each image is created for its article and matches the headline. No watermarks, text overlays or logos, and no clearly identifiable faces.

Sources behind paywalls such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Economist and Bloomberg aren’t used as primary sources.

Fathom gets past most sites that block automated reading, but not all of them. Pages behind a CAPTCHA are out of reach.

Fathom can search federal court records. State court dockets are not yet covered.

It matches names, titles, numbers and key terms between your sentence and its source. That catches mismatched links, and it’s also why every article comes to you for review.