Editorial policy

What counts as a source

Identification and management claims are checked against official agencies (USDA, USGS, APHIS and state agriculture or natural-resource departments), university extension publications, and primary legal or regulatory documents. A source list appears at the end of every species profile, comparison, guide and state page, with the date each source was accessed.

We do not treat a search-result snippet, an image search result or another content site as a source. Regulatory claims are tied to the current rule text or the agency page that publishes it. When a secondary source and the primary rule disagree, the page says so rather than silently choosing one.

Review and dates

Every article shows a published date and a last-reviewed date. The last-reviewed date changes only for a substantive edit to content, sources, structured data or links. It is not bumped for a site redesign or a redeployment.

Species pages are reviewed quarterly. A page whose last review is more than twelve months old is treated as due for review. Herbicide, pesticide, regulatory and safety changes require a fresh fact check before merge.

Draft and review status

Content is drafted in the repository and reviewed through a pull request. An entry marked draft is excluded from the build and the sitemap. A published entry marked needs human review is visible with a notice on the page: its facts are cited, but it has not completed final editorial sign-off. That label is removed only after a human checks the text, the sources, the dates and the structured data.

Corrections

If a page is wrong, send the page URL, the sentence at issue and a source that supports the correction through the contact route. Corrections that change a factual claim are recorded in the page history and the last-reviewed date is updated. We do not remove a correction request because it is inconvenient.

Automation and AI disclosure

Automation may be used to draft, format, check links or assemble structured data. It is not trusted with facts. A human must check the text, titles, meta descriptions, structured data and alt text before publication. No page is auto-published, and no AI tool is used to invent a source, a measurement, a credential or a regulatory classification.

Advertising and independence

WildScope displays third-party advertising supplied by Adsterra. Each species page carries up to two ad units: a 300 × 250 display banner and a native banner. Every ad is labeled Advertisement and appears in a fixed slot, never above the page heading or between the heading and the first paragraph. Ads are kept out of identification keys and safety guidance.

Advertising does not influence editorial content. Advertisers do not review, approve or commission an identification, a comparison, a ranking or a management recommendation. WildScope does not publish sponsored articles or paid placements presented as editorial content. How ad partners handle data is described in the privacy policy.

Scope and limitations

WildScope is an educational reference, not a diagnostic service, a pesticide recommendation or legal advice. A photograph can miss a decisive character. A state rule can change. For a safety-critical identification, a regulated species or a large infestation, confirm the answer with your state extension service or the relevant agency.