1. Original guides
An indexable guide must do more than restate a source. It should teach a reusable mental model, define important terms in context, identify meaningful baselines and tradeoffs, and give readers concrete questions for evaluating new claims. When a guide discusses a specific result, it should link to the primary source. We distinguish an author’s reported result from our interpretation.
2. Automated source notes
The research index uses the official arXiv feed to collect titles, author lists, dates, categories, abstracts, and source URLs. Topic classification is automated and can be imperfect. These pages are labeled “source note,” carry a noindex directive, contain no ad units, and are not described as independent reviews or reproduced tutorials. Long passages remain attributed to the paper authors.
3. Claims, tests, and limitations
- “The authors report” means the statement comes from a primary source and has not necessarily been independently verified.
- “We tested” is used only when a reproducible artifact and test conditions are actually available.
- Missing details are named as unknowns rather than filled with plausible-sounding assumptions.
- Medical, biological, security, and safety-critical research receives additional caution and is not converted into operational advice.
4. Automation and AI assistance
Automation may help collect metadata, organize sources, check links, or draft internal outlines. Automation does not turn copied or lightly paraphrased material into original editorial work. Indexable guides remain accountable to the standards above regardless of which tools helped produce them.
5. Corrections
Substantive factual corrections should be made promptly. Readers can report an issue through the contact page with the page URL, disputed passage, and supporting source. Style changes may be made without a notice; material changes to a guide should update its “last reviewed” date.
6. Advertising and independence
Advertising, if enabled, does not determine which topics or papers are covered. Source-note and archive pages do not contain ad units. Sponsored material, affiliate relationships, or supplied products must be labeled at the point where they could affect reader judgment. There are currently no sponsored field guides.
7. Rights and attribution
Paper titles, abstracts, and author-supplied figures remain associated with their original sources and licenses. A link or citation does not transfer ownership. If a rights holder identifies material that should be removed or more clearly attributed, use the contact route for review.