The Review exists to be useful to people who make decisions about seafarers’ lives. That only works if the facts in it can be checked.
One issue a month
We publish one reviewed topic each month rather than a stream of items. If in a given month nothing appears that meets the standard below, we publish nothing. A thin issue would cost more than a missing one.
Primary sources only
Every figure comes from the organisation that produced it — the research body, the regulator, the convention text — not from a report about it. Where the trade press led us to a study, we cite the study. Every source is listed and linked at the foot of each article, so any figure can be checked in one click.
Facts and opinion are kept apart
Each article carries a marked line. Above it is sourced fact. Below it is IMWIRSA’s own reading of what those facts mean, and it is signed by the person who stands behind it. Readers should never have to work out which of the two they are reading.
We say what we could not find out
Where the public record has gaps, we name them rather than filling them with estimates. An honest empty space is more useful than an approximate number.
We do not use the Review to promote our own work
IMWIRSA builds tools and runs services for seafarers, and those have their own pages on this site. The Review draws on what we see in port welfare centres, because that experience is why our commentary is worth reading — but it does not ask anyone to use anything we make.
Corrections
We will get something wrong. When that happens the correction is made openly: the article is amended, and a note at the foot of it records what was changed and on what date. We do not edit errors out quietly.
If you find a mistake, write to us. Corrections from readers are welcome and are not treated as complaints.
Languages
Each article is published in English and Russian. Both versions are prepared together and carry the same figures and the same sources. Where a term has no settled Russian equivalent, the English term is given alongside it on first use.