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Еditorial and Review Policy

Macresearch.org is a website about anything and everything Mac-related. We publish in-depth reporting, analysis, and criticism related to everything about Mac. In addition to the articles we provide here on the website, we also upload videos to our own YouTube channel.

This Editorial Policy describes the way we create content for Macresearch.org and its related social media channels. Please inform the editors if you find that we have failed to meet these criteria in any of our published work.

Reporting

  • We publish content as we see it, and strive to report information as accurately as we can.
  • We always ask for a comment when we report on anything that may not be readily available to the public or that may paint a person or an organization in a negative light.
  • When we learn of significant new information after a post has been published, we either update the current piece or publish a new one.
  • If we receive information about a possible factual inaccuracy in our work, we investigate the claim and provide a correction or clarification if necessary.
  • We also provide a right for anybody who finds themselves the subject of a story to respond. Please contact the editors if you have any concerns about the accuracy of any of the content on this site related to you or your company, or if you have any additional information that might be helpful to readers.
  • No information, whether from an identified or anonymous source, is published without first making an attempt to verify it with additional sources. We take every precaution to protect the names of those who give us information anonymously. Without exception, we do not compensate anybody for providing us with information.
  • We always provide proper credit and a link back to the original work when we report on material discovered by another media.
  • Reporting about games, individuals, events, and organizations may necessitate travel. We apply a policy of transparency in case we use free lodging and transportation provided by a third party in relation to our reporting(s).

Partnerships

Throughout our working process, we interact with video game designers, publishers, and other companies, as well as their PR and art departments, and we make it a point to maintain professional relationships at all times.

It is sometimes essential to agree to embargoes that prevent us from releasing information until after a specified date and time in order to get materials and access. Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) may also be required, but we won’t sign one unless we’re certain that doing so won’t undermine or restrict the work’s honesty and integrity in any way.

If a business suddenly ceases communicating with us (a practice known as “blacklisting”), we promise to continue providing the same level of reporting, analysis, transparency, and criticism regardless of the company’s reaction. We shall not make public references to these instances unless there is a compelling editorial need to do so, such as if the publication’s credibility were at stake or if the release of time-sensitive content like highly anticipated reviews was to be delayed.

The editorial staff at Macresearch.org does not take freebies or promotional items from developers, publishers, or other organizations in exchange for positive coverage. Only games, items for review, and items that help us perform our jobs will be accepted (i.e. consoles and peripherals). Donated items are not for resale or exchange.

We will send any unrequested promotional materials to GamesAid to be auctioned or sold for charity purposes.

Both the staff and the contributors are forbidden from providing “mock reviews” or paid consulting services to the game developers. No current or former employee or contributor may publish anything negative about their former employer within two years of leaving the organization in any capacity.

Advertising

Macresearch.org has separate editorial and advertising departments. Macresearch.org’s content on the website and the YouTube channel is 100% editorial and never affected by advertising.

When engaging with advertisers, our advertising department always strives to be transparent, honest, and fair.

We do not allow ads that are not transparent about their content (such as interstitials or overlays), have an automatically playing audio, or are otherwise inappropriate. Also, if any questionable advertising material is found on the site, we will take steps to get it removed. Please let us know if you see any advertisements on our site that you feel don’t meet these standards.

We may get a commission on purchases made after clicking on a link to a retailer’s website (like Boosteroid.com, for example). The inclusion of these links has no bearing on the final content and the editorial decisions and they can be found only in articles related to the specific product.  

Work standards on reviews

  • In short, reviews on Macresearch.org will tell you whether or not we enjoyed something (a game, a product, etc.), and why. Our reviews are meant to provide you with the background, analysis, and insights you need to determine whether or not an item or game is worth your time.
  • When choosing games to review, we take into account a number of factors, including the game’s quality, content, and profile to determine which ones will be of most interest to our users.
  • Reviewers are selected based on their familiarity with a certain series, game, genre, or platform, but we also consider their general gaming expertise.
  • Prior to publication, the review is reviewed with an editor or editors, but ultimately represents the reviewer’s expert opinion. The reviewer sets the recommendations, and the editors may suggest modifications, but only with the reviewer’s approval.
  • We do expect our authors to put in the necessary time with a game to have a thorough familiarity with it, although it’s not an exact science and the prerequisites for various games vary widely.
  • Our reviewers are professionals in their fields, and we have faith in their ability to offer fair and accurate reviews. The accessibility of review resources is also a factor in this context; if we are dissatisfied with them, we may postpone a review.

What we review

  • Only retail copies or versions that are otherwise identical to a retail copy are used for our game reviews. We don’t make reviews based on “debug code”, alpha, or beta releases.
  • Due to our strict policy of only reviewing retail copies, we seldom, if ever, cover games that were provided to us during review events hosted by the publishers themselves. We may still show up if there’s anything else worth covering during the event.
  • When possible, we will implement “day one” updates so that our in-game experience is equal to that of the vast majority of gamers.
  • We review games that require an internet connection once they have officially debuted, and when their player populations are fully representative.
  • If based on our judgment, a game’s online features are important to players, we will review it after release (with a fully representative player population) even if it doesn’t need an internet connection.
  • We reserve the right to choose the timeliness of reviews in the aforementioned instances, but we will always make every effort to be as complete and representative as possible.
  • In case we have to delay publishing a review after the release, we’ll publish our initial impressions as soon as possible.
  • Only the final, commercially available versions of games are tested and reviewed. Full reviews of games in early access are not published by us though we reserve the right to write articles that review these games to appropriate levels of scrutiny.
  • If we see it necessary, we may also review “Early Access” builds of commercially-available games. Whenever a game is published as a series of episodes, we will only post a review of the whole series, however, occasionally, we may provide impressions of certain episodes.
  • Every time we publish a review, we make sure it is as comprehensive and reliable as possible so that we never have to worry about having to update it. On rare occasions, if a substantial change has occurred in a game, we may update a review or alter our recommendation. We reserve the right to publish a comprehensive re-review of a game if the conditions surrounding it undergo widespread and substantial change.
  • Books, board games, and movies all fall under the review umbrella of gaming-related media that we may cover.