Editorial policy

Everything below describes how Indian Chai Masala actually operates day to day — commissioning, checking, correcting, and the line between editorial and commercial.

Independence

What we publish is decided entirely by the editorial team. Advertising is handled separately and has no route into commissioning, editing or approval, and no advertiser has ever been shown an article before it went live.

Paid articles, sponsored posts and link placements are all declined. If commercial content ever appears it will say so plainly at the top, and it will not be mixed into the ordinary article feed.

How we choose what to cover

We commission from the writers first and the calendar second. The bar is whether a piece tells a reader something they could not easily work out for themselves.

Accuracy and sourcing

• Sources are checked at origin. Second-hand figures repeated across the internet are treated as unverified until traced.
• Ranges and uncertainty are published as ranges and uncertainty.
• Where we are arguing rather than reporting, the piece says so.
• We draw the line at general information and point to regulated or professional advice past it.

Use of AI tools

AI tools are used in drafting. They are not used to publish: nothing goes live without a human edit, and the byline records who is answerable for the finished article.

We do not use AI to fabricate quotes, sources, statistics or people. Where a figure or a claim appears, it is checked before publication, and where we cannot verify something we leave it out or say that it is uncertain.

The words on Indian Chai Masala are our own. The photographs are not: they are licensed from Pexels under its licence and the photographer is credited beneath every one. We choose each image for the article it sits with, and we do not present a photograph as if it documents a specific person, place or event it does not.

Corrections

If we publish something inaccurate we fix it. Substantive corrections are noted on the article itself with the date; typographical fixes are made silently. Nothing is quietly deleted to make a mistake disappear.

To report an error, write to corrections@indianchaimasala.com or use the contact form and choose "Correction". Tell us the article, the sentence and what is wrong; we aim to respond within five working days.

Right of reply

If you or your organisation is the subject of criticism in an article and believe it is unfair or factually wrong, write to editorial@indianchaimasala.com. We will consider a reply on the record.

Affiliate links and gifts

We do not currently run affiliate links. If that changes, affiliate links will be disclosed on the page that carries them and will never determine what we recommend.

Writers do not accept payment, gifts or hospitality from anyone they cover. Review items, where they exist, are returned or declared.

Reader data

How we handle your data is set out in the privacy policy and the cookie policy. In short: we collect as little as we can, we do not sell personal data, and advertising cookies only run if you agree to them.