Editorial Policy
Who is responsible, how the research pipeline and the editor divide the work, and how we correct mistakes.
Last updated: 1 October 2026
Who is responsible
Data Today is published by Datastudy. The responsible editor is Lars Cornelissen, reachable at [email protected]. The responsible editor has final say over everything published here.
Lars Cornelissen works as a data engineer on Snowflake, Matillion, Python, and AWS platforms. That day job is where the Engineering Desk's first-hand notes come from; when a piece draws on it, the article says so in an editor's note.
How we work
Every story starts with a primary source: an announcement, a filing, a paper, a dataset, or vendor documentation. We read the original, extract the actual numbers, and build a chart from those figures. We name and link every source.
We label analysis and opinion distinctly from reporting. When a chart is built on a sample or on illustrative values rather than measured data, the caption says so.
If a piece cannot stand on specific, sourced facts, we do not publish it.
How we use automation, and how we label it
Data Today uses an automated research and drafting pipeline. We are stating that plainly rather than leaving you to guess.
What the pipeline does: monitors primary sources for relevant developments, retrieves the underlying documents and datasets, drafts a first version of the analysis, and generates the accompanying chart from the extracted figures. A second, independent model checks each draft against our style guide and flags near-duplicates of stories we already ran.
What humans do: every published piece is reviewed and edited by the named editor before it goes live; nothing is merged into the site without that sign-off. The editor checks that sources are cited and reachable, that numbers match the underlying document, that the framing is defensible, and that the piece adds interpretation rather than restating a press release. Pieces that do not pass are not published.
What we require of every piece before it runs: see what we will not publish below. In short: at least two primary sources, at least one number that is specific enough to be wrong, and at least one thing no other outlet has said.
How you can tell: the byline on each article names the desk that produced it and links to the responsible editor. The desk pages state the same division of labour. Every article links to its sources.
We do not publish content primarily to attract search traffic. We do not publish at a volume that our editing capacity cannot support: the pipeline has a hard limit of 6 articles a week and 25 a month, and drafts beyond that wait in a queue where the editor picks the strongest. We set that limit in October 2026, after publishing far more than one editor can review properly in our first months.
The desks
| Desk | Covers |
|---|---|
| Data Today AI Desk | AI & Research |
| Data Today Engineering Desk | Data Engineering |
| Data Today Security Desk | Security |
| Data Today Markets Desk | Business & Markets |
| Data Today Opinion Desk | Opinion |
What we will not publish
- A piece that restates a press release or another outlet's reporting without adding original analysis
- A piece whose only sourcing is other news coverage, or that has fewer than two primary sources
- A piece we cannot find a first-hand or primary source for
- A piece that repeats a story we have already covered, unless it changes the picture; in that case we update or link the earlier piece
Corrections
We correct errors openly rather than editing them away quietly.
- Substantive corrections are noted at the foot of the article with the date and what changed.
- Corrections and clarifications are logged at /corrections/.
- To report an error: [email protected].
When we withdraw a piece or fold it into a stronger one on the same story, the old address redirects to the article that replaced it.
Advertising and independence
Advertising on this site is served programmatically. Advertisers have no input into what we cover, how we cover it, or which stories run. Editorial decisions are made without reference to advertising.
We do not publish sponsored content. If we ever do, it will be labelled as such at the top of the piece and will not carry a Data Today byline.
Sources and attribution
We prefer primary sources over coverage of primary sources. Where we rely on reporting by others, we credit and link it. We do not scrape or rewrite other outlets' work.