Corrections and Updates Policy
Hominid Post is committed to publishing accurate, evidence-based, and responsibly sourced content.
Science changes. New evidence appears, interpretations are challenged, and mistakes sometimes occur. When we identify a meaningful error, we correct it openly. When new information changes the context of an article, we update the article and explain what changed.
Our goal is to preserve the integrity of the published record and give readers a reliable way to evaluate our work.
How to report an error
Readers, researchers, authors, and organizations may report a suspected error through the Hominid Post contact page.
Please include:
- ·The title or URL of the article
- ·The specific statement, citation, image, or section in question
- ·A clear explanation of the suspected error
- ·Supporting sources, where available
- ·Your name and contact information, if you would like a response
Reports may be submitted anonymously, although providing contact information may help us ask follow-up questions or confirm the evidence.
A disagreement with an article's conclusion does not automatically establish that the article is inaccurate. We welcome serious criticism, but correction decisions are based on evidence rather than pressure, preference, or the status of the person making the request.
How we review correction requests
Correction requests are reviewed by an editor. Depending on the issue, the review may include:
- ·Checking the original source
- ·Reviewing the cited study or dataset
- ·Contacting the author
- ·Consulting a qualified subject-matter expert
- ·Recalculating a statistic
- ·Reviewing publication dates or historical records
- ·Examining whether language accurately reflects the level of evidence
- ·Assessing whether a conflict of interest was properly disclosed
Commercial partners, advertisers, sponsors, donors, political organizations, and subjects of coverage do not receive special authority over the correction process.
They may identify a possible error, but the editorial team determines whether a correction is warranted.
Types of editorial changes
Not every change has the same significance. Hominid Post uses several forms of editorial notice.
Minor edit
Minor edits include spelling, punctuation, formatting, broken links, or grammatical changes that do not alter the meaning of an article.
These changes may be made without a formal correction notice.
We do not use minor edits to quietly change a scientific claim, remove important context, or alter the substance of an argument.
Clarification
A clarification may be added when the original wording was technically accurate but could reasonably mislead readers or create an unintended interpretation.
Clarifications are used when additional context improves accuracy without reversing the original conclusion.
A clarification note may appear at the end of the article or near the revised passage.
Correction
A correction is issued when an article contains a factual, numerical, attribution, citation, methodological, or interpretive error that affects the reader's understanding.
Examples include:
- ·An incorrect date, name, location, or quotation
- ·A calculation error
- ·A citation that does not support the stated claim
- ·Misreporting the sample size or findings of a study
- ·Confusing correlation with causation
- ·Describing preliminary evidence as settled
- ·Applying animal findings directly to humans without qualification
- ·Misidentifying an archaeological culture, population, institution, or historical event
- ·Failing to disclose a relevant conflict of interest
- ·Using a chart, image, or map in a misleading way
A correction notice should explain what was wrong, what was changed, and whether the correction affects the article's broader conclusion.
Update
An update is used when an article was accurate at the time of publication but new evidence, research, or events materially change the subject.
Updates may include:
- ·Newly published research
- ·Revised archaeological dating
- ·A replication or failed replication
- ·Changes in scientific consensus
- ·A newly identified limitation
- ·A policy or institutional change
- ·Additional historical documentation
- ·A response from a person or organization discussed in the article
Substantial updates will display an updated publication date and a note describing the revision.
An update should not be presented as a correction unless the original article was inaccurate.
Editor's note
An editor's note may be added when a concern requires explanation but has not yet been fully resolved, or when the circumstances surrounding an article deserve additional transparency.
An editor's note may be appropriate when:
- ·A cited paper is under investigation
- ·A study has received an expression of concern
- ·A serious dispute exists about data or methodology
- ·A source has materially changed or withdrawn a claim
- ·The article's editorial process requires explanation
- ·A relevant relationship or conflict was disclosed after publication
The note should state what is known, what remains unresolved, and what further review is taking place.
Retraction
Retraction is reserved for serious cases in which an article's central evidence or conclusions are no longer reliable.
An article may be retracted when:
- ·Evidence, data, quotations, or citations were fabricated
- ·Serious plagiarism is confirmed
- ·Major methodological errors invalidate the article
- ·A source was materially misrepresented
- ·Undisclosed conflicts compromised the work
- ·The central argument depends on research that has been discredited or retracted
- ·The article causes a substantial misrepresentation that cannot be repaired through correction
A retracted page will ordinarily remain available with a prominent retraction notice. This preserves the public record and prevents the article from disappearing without explanation.
Removal may be considered when publication creates a serious legal, privacy, safety, or ethical risk that cannot be addressed through editing or redaction.
Scientific disagreement and changing evidence
Scientific disagreement is expected.
Researchers may use different methods, interpret the same evidence differently, or disagree about the strength of a theory. The existence of disagreement does not necessarily mean an article requires correction.
A correction is appropriate when the article:
- ·Misstates the evidence
- ·Omits a major and relevant competing explanation
- ·Presents a disputed position as settled
- ·Attributes a claim to a researcher who did not make it
- ·Uses evidence outside the limits of the original study
- ·Fails to distinguish evidence from interpretation or speculation
When credible disagreement exists, Hominid Post may revise the article to represent the debate more accurately.
We will not change an article merely because a person, institution, political group, religious organization, or commercial entity dislikes its evidence-based conclusion.
Corrections to headlines, images, and metadata
Accuracy applies to more than the article body.
We may correct:
- ·Headlines
- ·Subheadings
- ·Captions
- ·Featured images
- ·Charts
- ·Maps
- ·Author information
- ·Publication dates
- ·Search descriptions
- ·Structured data
- ·Social media summaries
A headline that exaggerates the evidence may require correction even when the article itself is more careful.
Artificial intelligence-generated or reconstructed imagery will be relabeled or replaced when it could reasonably be mistaken for documentary, archaeological, or scientific evidence.
Author-requested changes
Authors may request corrections to their work after publication.
Requests are reviewed under the same standards applied to reader submissions. Authors may correct genuine errors, but they may not quietly rewrite the record, remove valid criticism, or substantially change an argument without an editorial note.
Changes to an author's biography, credentials, title, or affiliation may be made when the original information is outdated or inaccurate.
Corrections involving sponsored or commercial content
Sponsored articles, affiliate content, advertising, and partner-funded material are subject to the same factual standards as independent editorial content.
A sponsor or commercial partner may report an error but may not block a correction, require the removal of valid criticism, or purchase a more favorable conclusion.
If compensation, sponsorship, affiliate relationships, or other material connections were not properly disclosed, the disclosure will be added and may be accompanied by a correction or editor's note.
Social media corrections
When a significant error appears in a social media post, Hominid Post may:
- ·Correct or replace the post
- ·Publish a follow-up correction
- ·Link readers to the corrected article
- ·Preserve the original context when deleting the post would create confusion
The method used will depend on the platform and the seriousness of the error.
Our correction record
Substantive corrections, updates, editor's notes, and retractions should remain visible on the relevant article.
Correction notices should include the date of the change.
Where practical, Hominid Post may also maintain a public list of significant corrections and retractions.
Our commitment
Hominid Post does not measure credibility by pretending that errors never happen.
Credibility depends on how evidence is handled before publication and how mistakes are addressed afterward.
We commit to:
- ·Reviewing credible correction requests
- ·Correcting verified errors
- ·Explaining substantial changes
- ·Preserving the published record
- ·Separating disagreement from factual inaccuracy
- ·Resisting commercial or political pressure
- ·Updating articles when the evidence materially changes
- ·Being clear about what is known, inferred, disputed, and uncertain
Readers who identify a possible error help strengthen the publication. Every serious report will be considered on its evidence.