Editorial Standards

EFFECTIVE 3 AUGUST 2026

A ranking is only worth as much as the process behind it. This page sets out how our figures and guidance are produced, checked, reviewed and corrected — and the structural reasons commercial revenue cannot reach them.

1. Research

We start from primary sources wherever one exists: the manufacturer’s own specification, the operator’s published fare rules, the official tax schedule, the regulator’s dataset. Secondary sources are used where no primary one is available, and are recorded as secondary. Every input is captured with its origin and the date it was observed — not merely its value.

Where a cost genuinely cannot be sourced, we do not guess quietly. We compute a reasoned estimate, label it ASSUMPTION, and state the basis for it. A visible assumption is honest; a hidden one is not. The full rules are in Sources & Data Policy.

2. Fact checking

• Every figure must carry a source and a date before it can be published. An unsourced number cannot enter the dataset — this is enforced by the data model, not by memory.
• Confidence grading is mandatory. FACT (primary/official), SOURCED (named third party) or ASSUMPTION (reasoned estimate). The grade travels with the number everywhere it appears.
• The weakest link sets the grade. A true total inherits the lowest grade among its inputs, so a single assumption cannot hide inside an otherwise well-sourced calculation.
• Outliers are investigated, not smoothed. A figure that looks wrong usually is — either the input or our handling of it.

3. Review before publication

Methodology changes — anything that alters how a true total is computed — get more scrutiny than content changes, because they move every figure at once. A methodology change requires a stated rationale, a check of its effect on existing listings, and a dated entry in the published methodology. We do not silently re-weight a ranking.

4. Keeping it current

Content ages, and pretending otherwise is the most common dishonesty in comparison publishing. Our approach:

• Every listing carries a visible last-updated date and a freshness state — recent, ageing or stale.
• Stale figures are marked as stale in the interface rather than quietly served as current.
• When a source feed fails we prefer an honestly dated old figure over a confidently wrong new one.
• Guides are reviewed when the underlying data or rules change, and the review date is shown.

5. Independence

Independence claimed is worth nothing; independence enforced is worth everything. Ours rests on four structural properties rather than on good intentions:

The ranking is computed before commerce is consulted

Position is a function of true total cost, quality and verified impact. Commission rate is not an input to that function. Affiliate data is attached afterwards, for disclosure — it cannot flow backwards into the order.

Placement is not for sale, at any price

There is no rate card, because there is nothing to sell. We decline approaches to buy position, and we would rather lose a partnership than take one conditioned on coverage.

The commercial relationship is published

Where we earn commission we show it next to the link, including the rate. A disclosed incentive can be scrutinised; a hidden one cannot. See Affiliate Disclosure.

No advertising at all

No display ads, no sponsored rows, no native advertising — see Advertising Disclosure. The commonest route by which money reaches editorial simply does not exist here.

6. Conflicts of interest

Anyone contributing to TrueTotal must disclose any financial interest in a company we cover and step back from decisions affecting it. We do not accept gifts, hospitality, free products or payment in return for coverage, review or position. Where a manufacturer supplies data, it is cited as the interested party it is.

7. Use of AI

AI assists with drafting, summarising and pattern-finding. It is never permitted to originate a price, a cost or a factual claim, and every figure must trace to a real source regardless of what tool helped write the prose around it. Full detail: AI Transparency Statement.

8. Corrections

We publish corrections rather than editing errors away in silence. Report anything that looks wrong via Report an Error or corrections@truetotalcalculator.com; our response times and the public correction log are described in the Corrections Policy.

9. Holding us to this

If we fall short of anything on this page, that is a failure worth telling us about. Email hello@truetotalcalculator.com, or escalate through Help & Complaints. Persistent or serious departures from these standards should be treated as a bug in the product, because that is what they are.