Ethics

Independence is the only thing a small publication really sells. This page sets out the rules we hold ourselves to. Our day-to-day method is in our editorial standards.

Independence

Ainaptic is not owned by, invested in by, or operated on behalf of any company we cover. No advertiser, sponsor or partner sees an article before publication or has any say in what we cover or how we conclude.

Gifts, review units and travel

• We do not accept payment, equity, tokens or gifts in exchange for coverage.
• Hardware or software provided for review is returned, or its retail value is disclosed on the review if it cannot be returned.
• We pay our own way to events. If a trip is paid for by a company we cover, we disclose it on every article arising from it.
• Free trials and press accounts are used only where any reader could obtain the same tier, and this is stated in the review.

Conflicts of interest

Contributors declare any holding, employment, consulting arrangement, advisory role or close personal relationship involving a company or project they write about. Where a conflict is material, either someone else takes the story or the conflict is disclosed prominently on it. Contributors do not trade on information gathered in the course of reporting.

Affiliate links and advertising

If we use affiliate links, they are labelled and they never influence a rating, a ranking or a recommendation. We do not accept paid placement in our tools directory or Repo Radar. Sponsored content, if we run it, is visually distinct and labelled as sponsored on every screen.

Sources and fairness

We identify ourselves as journalists before an interview. We honour agreed terms such as background or embargo. We do not misrepresent who we are to obtain information. Where we make a serious critical claim, we approach the subject for comment first and reflect their answer fairly.

Plagiarism and attribution

We do not present other people’s work as ours. When a story originates elsewhere, we say so and link to it.

Use of AI

Automated tooling helps us monitor sources and prepare drafts. It never decides what is true. A named human editor verifies claims and approves publication. We do not generate quotes, sources, benchmark results or images and pass them off as real.

When we fall short

We correct openly — see corrections. If you believe we have breached this policy, write to [email protected] and we will investigate and respond.