Editorial standards

Desk Shortlist earns commission on some links. These are the rules that keep that from deciding what you read. They are specific on purpose — a vague promise to be “honest and unbiased” is unfalsifiable.

1. 1

   Honest aggregator

   Our writers are research and market-analysis roles. We do not publish fabricated first-hand testing, invented long-term impressions, or made-up owner quotes. Every factual claim about a product traces to the manufacturer, a named publication, or a review platform — and the page says which.

2. 2

   No invented numbers

   Prices, dimensions, weight and load ratings, mounting standards and warranty terms come from a sourced data file with the date we checked them. If a number is not in that file, the page does not state it. Time-sensitive claims carry the date.

3. 3

   Seller claims stay attributed

   We never restate a manufacturer’s own capacity, warranty or compatibility claim as our own finding. It is attributed in the sentence that makes it.

4. 4

   Disclosure sits above the recommendation

   The affiliate disclosure appears at the top of every page that recommends a product, next to the recommendation itself — not only in the footer or on a policy page.

5. 5

   Fit decides the order, not commission

   Shortlists are ordered by how well a product suits the situation the page is about. Payout rates are consulted after that ordering exists, never before it, and never to reorder it.

6. 6

   Structured data stays honest

   We publish Article, BreadcrumbList, FAQPage and Product/Offer structured data with a truthful dateModified. We do not publish AggregateRating anywhere on this site, because we do not run the ratings that would justify it.

7. 7

   Provenance is labelled

   When we cite third-party testing we name the outlet and the date. A citation whose only source is the brand’s own press page is described as the brand’s claim, not as independent coverage.

8. 8

   Trademarks used nominatively

   Brand names appear in our content to identify products. No brand mark appears in our logo, wordmark, domain or branding, and the footer states our independence.

Holding us to them

If a page on this site breaks one of these rules, that is a defect and we want it reported. See our methodology for what our comparisons actually measure, and about for who publishes this.