What we owe our readers.

Editorial independence

Hearthline's editors and reviewers have full and final authority over what appears in the publication. No advertiser, affiliate partner, or commercial relationship has influenced the conclusion of a Hearthline piece, and none ever will.

We do not accept payment for coverage. We do not run sponsored content. We do not offer guaranteed reviews in exchange for samples. We have, on multiple occasions, declined to publish reviews of products our reviewers did not like enough to recommend — including products we had been sent at no cost.

How we choose what to cover

Coverage decisions are made by the desk editor in consultation with the editor-in-chief. The criteria are editorial:

• Is this an object readers might genuinely benefit from a careful review of?
• Does it sit within one of our five desks?
• Can one of our reviewers spend meaningful time with it?
• Is there a question worth answering — about durability, use, alternatives — that other reviewers haven't already answered well?

Fact-checking

Every piece is checked before publication by a second member of the editorial team. Wellbeing-desk pieces are additionally reviewed by Dr. Helena Okafor for medical accuracy. Specific claims that require sourcing — product specifications, scientific statements, historical facts — must be supported by a verifiable source before publication.

Corrections

Errors of fact are corrected promptly and visibly. When we change a published piece to fix an error, the change is logged in the update history at the foot of the piece, with the date and a plain description of what was changed. Substantive corrections are not silently merged into the text.

Spot one? Write to corrections@hearthline.com.

Use of AI

Hearthline is written by humans. We do not use generative AI to produce review copy, editorial commentary, or product descriptions. AI tools are occasionally used for narrow back-office tasks such as transcript clean-up of recorded testing notes, but no AI-generated text appears in a published piece.

Reviewer accountability

Every piece carries the byline of the person who wrote it. Every author has a public profile listing their role, expertise, and previous bylines. We do not use pen names, editorial pseudonyms, or shared bylines for review work.

Affiliate relationships

Hearthline participates in the Amazon Associates Program. Full disclosure is on our affiliate disclosure page. Affiliate relationships do not influence what we cover or what we recommend.

Reader feedback

We take reader feedback seriously, particularly when it challenges our conclusions. Substantive disagreements are reviewed by the desk editor, and where appropriate, appended to the update history of the piece in question.