Editorial standards

The central rule

Make the practitioner worth knowing by showing how they think and what they learned. Reader value must be present in the story itself. A flattering biography is not enough.

Authorship and labels

Every story carries a byline label: By, As told to the editors, Reported by, Perspective, or Illustrative example. We never give a story an editor-written first-person voice without the contributor’s explicit approval, and we never present an editor’s wording as a verbatim quote.

Illustrative examples

While the founding issue is prepared, some stories and profiles on this site are illustrative examples written by the editors to demonstrate our formats. They are badged on every card and page, excluded from search indexing, and will be replaced by real, approved stories. We will never pass them off as real members.

How we use AI

• AI may help organize approved notes, suggest an outline, or flag unsupported assertions.
• AI must not invent scenes, dialogue, metrics, emotions, quotes or experiences.
• We preserve source notes and require contributor approval of the final account.
• We do not use synthetic people, headshots or community responses as real content.
• We do not treat AI-detector output as proof of authorship or dishonesty.
• Before using any AI service on interview material, we confirm the data flow and tell contributors.

Publication checks

Before publication, an editor asks:

• Is the contributor sharing their own experience rather than exposing someone else’s private circumstances?
• Could a colleague or employer identify an individual from combined details?
• Are named organizations, quotes, photographs or documents used with rights and approval?
• Is an alleged outcome supported, or clearly labelled as the author’s account?
• Are commercial interests disclosed?

We avoid identifiable disputes, live investigations, medical information and individual compensation details. We never ask for raw employee records.

Sponsorship and independence

• No payment guarantees editorial acceptance or praise.
• Any future sponsored content will be labelled clearly and kept separate from member stories.
• We do not sell contributor details or private submissions as leads.
• Publication permission is separate from marketing consent.

Corrections and withdrawals

If we get something wrong, we correct it and note the change with a date at the end of the story. Material changes require the contributor’s renewed approval. Contributors may ask to withdraw a story; we remove it and leave a short note. To report an error or concern, email [email protected].

Responses and moderation

Reader responses are moderated before publication and only published with the respondent’s permission. We do not reject a response because it disagrees with an author. We remove solicitation, personal attacks and identifying sensitive detail. There are no automated or AI-generated comments on hr.cafe.