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Ground Rules
Five commitments Trigpoint makes to readers · v0.3
These five rules govern how Trigpoint produces every page. Every node goes through the same verification before it ships: load-bearing statements go back to primary sources, unverified figures stay out of the diagrams, and verification status is marked on every page. If you find us breaking any of them, submit it through the form at the bottom of the relevant node page. If it stands, it goes into the correction record, and the handling is listed publicly in the discussion and response record.
RULE ONE · DO NOT REBUILD WHAT EXISTS
Most problems have already been solved, and the people who solved them left their names on the work. We cite the named original directly. We do not rebuild it, and we do not coin a new term for it.
“Eponymy is only the most enduring and perhaps most prestigious kind of recognition institutionalized in science.” Merton (1957), Priorities in Scientific Discovery, p. 644
RULE TWO · COIN ONLY AT THE FRONTIER
A new term is coined only at the frontier that existing theory does not cover. Any coinage is declared explicitly, and it has to pass verification first.
“In this essay, ‘normal science’ means research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievements, achievements that some particular scientific community acknowledges for a time as supplying the foundation for its further practice.” Kuhn (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, ch. II, p. 10
RULE THREE · VERIFY AGAINST PRIMARY SOURCES
Load-bearing statements are verified against the primary literature. Second-hand authority is not accepted. Where primary verification was not possible, the page says so.
“Nullius in verba.”Take nobody's word for it. The motto of the Royal Society, unchanged for more than three hundred and sixty years. Royal Society (1660)
RULE FOUR · LAB-TESTED
A theory carries the Lab-tested mark only after we have field-tested it in our own work. The mark is a distinction, not an admission requirement. Nodes without a field test say so plainly.
Paraphrase · a claim counts as severely tested only once it has passed a test that should have exposed it, had it been false.The original wording is still pending primary-source tracing. Under rule three, only the sense is recorded here. Mayo (severe testing)
RULE FIVE · CORRECTIONS IN PUBLIC
Errors are corrected in public. Pages are not edited silently. The correction record carries the date and what changed, with thanks to the reader who reported it.
Paraphrase · few human activities subject their own errors to systematic criticism and correct them over time; science is one of them.The original wording is still pending primary-source tracing. Under rule three, only the sense is recorded here. Popper (error elimination)
Where the correction record lives: the correction section on each node page, which appears only once there is a correction; corrections from every node are also listed by date on the Updates and corrections page.
The correction record thanks the reader who reported the error without giving a name or nickname. That is rule five in operation.
What you submit, and any nickname you give, are never published; see section 4.1 of the privacy policy.
The correction record thanks the reader who reported the error without giving a name or nickname. That is rule five in operation.
What you submit, and any nickname you give, are never published; see section 4.1 of the privacy policy.
How to read the verification record and source notes: the verification record on a node page records what was checked for each claim, how far each check went, and what was not checked. It records the depth of checking and does not certify that the conclusions are true.
“Bibliographic details checked” means author, year, title and venue were confirmed. It does not mean the source's claims were checked.
“Consistent with the abstract” means the claim agrees with the paper's abstract. It does not include sentence-by-sentence checking against the full text.
“Matched against the full text” means the claim was compared with the text of the source itself.
“Checked against the primary site” means the claim was compared with the project's own website.
“Follows secondary accounts” means the claim rests on sources that report it, not on the original document.
“Cited as reported in” means the original was not read here; the citation is taken from the source named.
“Verification inherited” means the check was done on another page of this site and not repeated here.
Definition version 2026-09-25.
“Bibliographic details checked” means author, year, title and venue were confirmed. It does not mean the source's claims were checked.
“Consistent with the abstract” means the claim agrees with the paper's abstract. It does not include sentence-by-sentence checking against the full text.
“Matched against the full text” means the claim was compared with the text of the source itself.
“Checked against the primary site” means the claim was compared with the project's own website.
“Follows secondary accounts” means the claim rests on sources that report it, not on the original document.
“Cited as reported in” means the original was not read here; the citation is taken from the source named.
“Verification inherited” means the check was done on another page of this site and not repeated here.
Definition version 2026-09-25.
How new shelves open: New shelves open in batches on a monthly update day (the first Sunday of each month). Monthly and annual members can read each new shelf in full from seven days before it opens. On opening day the theory layer opens to all readers, and on some nodes the full verification layer opens too.