Code of Ethics
Research Marketing is a trade news publication covering marketing, advertising, media, consumer insights, digital, business, and technology, and a member of the 24World Media network. This Code of Ethics states the rules our newsroom works by. It is published so readers, sources, and the organizations we cover can hold us to it.
Accuracy and Sourcing
Our first obligation is to publish what is true and to say plainly what we do not yet know. We apply a two-source rule to consequential claims wherever practicable: a material fact should be confirmed by two independent sources, or by one source plus a primary document such as a filing, an official statement, a dataset, or a direct recording. Where a story necessarily rests on a single source, we say so in the story. We prefer primary sources over commentary about them, we name sources unless confidentiality is granted under the rule below, and we check names, titles, figures, and dates against the best available record before publication. Anonymous sources are used only where the information is important, cannot be obtained on the record, and the source’s position to know is established; the reason for anonymity is explained to the reader wherever it can be without breaking confidentiality.
Independence: No Paid News Coverage
News coverage is never for sale. No payment, gift, advertising purchase, sponsorship, or partnership buys, influences, or suppresses a news story, a headline, a ranking, or the tone of coverage at Research Marketing. Sponsored content exists on this site only as clearly labelled advertising, under the policy stated on our Advertise and Services pages: it carries a prominent “Sponsored” label, never a reporter or Staff Reports byline, and never influences the newsroom. Staff may not accept gifts, travel, hospitality, or other benefits from organizations we cover where acceptance could reasonably appear to influence coverage; nominal courtesies of trivial value are disclosed to an editor.
Conflicts of Interest
Editors and reporters must disclose to the assigning editor any financial interest, employment relationship, close personal relationship, or outside work that could conflict with a story, and they are recused from coverage where a conflict exists. The newsroom does not trade on unpublished information. Where a story concerns 24World Media itself, a sister publication, or a commercial partner of this site, that relationship is disclosed in the story. Advertising and sales staff play no role in editorial decisions, and editorial staff play no role in selling advertising.
Fairness and Right of Reply
We report criticism and serious allegations only with a genuine attempt to obtain the subject’s response before publication wherever practicable, and we publish that response fairly. We do not select facts to make a subject look better or worse than the record supports, and we distinguish clearly between reported fact, attributed claim, and analysis. Headlines must fairly represent the stories beneath them.
AI-Assistance Disclosure
Research Marketing may use artificial intelligence tools to assist with production tasks such as transcription, translation, document summarization for internal review, and headline variants for editorial consideration. AI systems do not originate, report, or approve our journalism. Every published story is reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor who is accountable for it, and any materially AI-assisted published content is disclosed to readers. Tips or documents supplied in confidence to the newsroom are never entered into external AI systems.
Corrections and Accountability
Errors are corrected openly under our Corrections Policy: promptly, visibly, and without silently rewriting the record on matters of substance. Staff Reports briefs meet the same standard as bylined features. Readers who believe we have fallen short of this Code — on accuracy, independence, conflicts, or any other commitment — are invited to write to us through the Contact page, marking the message “Ethics.” A senior editor reviews every ethics complaint and replies. This Code binds everyone who publishes for Research Marketing, and it is reviewed by the newsroom at least annually.
Source Protection and Plagiarism
We protect confidential sources and do not reveal a source’s identity except with that source’s consent or where we are legally compelled after exhausting reasonable remedies. Source material shared with us in confidence is handled within the newsroom on a need-to-know basis. Plagiarism is prohibited absolutely: the work of others is quoted sparingly, attributed clearly, and linked where possible, and unattributed copying from any publication, release, or dataset presented as our own reporting is a dismissible breach of this Code. These twin commitments — protecting those who trust us with information, and crediting those whose work we build on — are the foundation on which the rest of this Code stands.
