Source and provenance policy

Preferred source order

Official registry, standards body, institution, or operator site.
Official machine-readable API or directory.
Intergovernmental or regulator publication.
Reputable specialist research source, clearly labeled.
Secondary reporting only as a lead for primary-source confirmation.

Required fields

Each canonical record has an official homepage, a more specific source URL when available, a UTC verification date, and a status.

Link verification

A successful HTTP response establishes that a page was reachable; it does not prove every claim on that page. Some legitimate sites block automated clients, so a 403 can be recorded as a transport caveat without treating the organization as invalid.

Corrections

Corrections should cite the replacement source and preserve history through Git. Do not silently rewrite uncertain facts.