Editorial standards
How these research guides are made
PassResearch publishes a small, edited journal for university research. This page explains what we expect from a guide, who reviews it, how sources are handled, how AI is used, and how to ask for a correction. It is the standard we want to be held to, not a description of a perfect archive.
Last reviewed: 1 November 2026
Useful before impressive
A guide must answer a real student question, with practical steps, examples and limits. Length is not a substitute for usefulness, and a page is not published just because a topic exists.
Sources that can be checked
Where a claim depends on evidence, we link a source a reader can open: an official style guide, a methods text, a regulator, a university handbook or a peer-reviewed paper. We do not invent citations, and an unverified DOI blocks publication.
Ugandan and East African context
Examples reflect the realities of students in the region, while distinguishing local practice from universal methodological advice. A local example is never used to excuse a weaker source.
AI is a drafting tool, not an author
A model may help outline, draft, restructure or check prose. It does not get a byline, it does not approve a page, and its output is not presented as independent expert review. A named editor remains responsible for what is published.
Corrections stay visible
If a source is wrong, a link has moved or a statement is unclear, write to support@passresearch.com. We review the correction, update the page and keep the revision record rather than silently deleting the history.
Who edits the journal
The journal is edited by Enocha Engulu, founder of PassResearch. The editorial desk is responsible for commissioning, source checks, the publication decision and corrections. It is not a separate anonymous account, and the byline on a guide points to the desk that signed it.
PassResearch is independent. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any university, regulator or examination body. Institutional requirements always take precedence over a general guide, and a guide cannot approve a student's work on an institution's behalf.
How a guide gets published
- 01
Choose a question with a real audience
The topic has to answer something a student, supervisor or researcher is actually stuck on. We do not commission a page because a keyword looks easy.
- 02
Draft against supplied sources
The writer works from a source list that has already been checked for existence. Every bracketed citation must resolve to one of those sources; an unmatched citation is a blocking error.
- 03
Remove production artifacts
Drafting notes, change reports and citation-check commentary are removed before review. If any survive, the publication gate refuses the piece.
- 04
Edit for the reader
The editor checks the argument, the examples, the heading structure, the links and the length. A guide below 900 words or four sections is not published as a guide.
- 05
Sign it off
A named person records the review date and what was checked. The article is not eligible for indexing or advertising until that record exists.
- 06
Publish, then maintain
Published pages carry a review date. A correction or a changed source reopens the page instead of leaving a stale claim in place.
What “reviewed” means here
A review is a record, not a feeling. The article row stores the reviewer's name, the date and a short note describing what was checked. A page without that record is not eligible for search indexing or advertising, even if it is reachable at its URL.
The editor checks that the piece has a clear reader question, at least four substantive sections, a usable summary, working internal links and no surviving drafting notes. Citations are checked against the supplied source list, including DOI resolution where a DOI is given.
This is an editorial check, not peer review. It does not certify a study, a student's data or an institution's decision, and the article says so where that distinction matters.
How AI is used
We use language models as drafting and editing tools. They can propose an outline, tighten a paragraph or compare a draft against a checklist. They are not cited as authors, and they do not make the publication decision.
Since the November 2026 editorial review, unattended publication is disabled. A model can prepare a draft for the queue, but every public article requires a person to open it, check it and sign it off. The standing-authorisation mechanism that previously allowed a scheduled run to publish is off by default and requires an explicit deployment switch to re-enable.
AI assistance is disclosed on this page and in the editorial record. We do not claim that a model's output is original research, and we do not use it to invent a source, a quotation, a statistic or an author.
What we do not publish
- Scraped or rewritten pages whose only purpose is to capture a search query.
- Unattended model output presented as an editor-reviewed guide.
- Invented citations, authors, qualifications, university endorsements or results.
- Guarantees of a grade, admission, ethics approval or examination outcome.
- A page whose body is still an outline, a placeholder or an editor's change report.
Corrections and contact
Send a correction with the page URL and the supporting source to support@passresearch.com. For how the product handles research data and AI, read the academic integrity statement and the privacy policy. For the people behind the product, see About PassResearch.