Reference Governance
Source Policy
Sources are treated as first-class reference records, not decoration. Each source should identify who published it, what kind of source it is, and how reliable it is for the claim it supports.
Preferred sources
The strongest pages use primary legislation, court judgments, government publications, archival records, academic work, official organisation records, and reputable historical or journalistic sources. Secondary explainers can be useful, but they should not replace stronger sources where those are available.
Source types
Source records are classified as primary, secondary, news, academic, legal, archive, organisation, government, or other. This helps distinguish direct evidence from later interpretation.
Reliability labels
Sources can be marked high, medium, or needs review. High reliability normally means the source is official, primary, legal, academic, archival, or otherwise directly authoritative for the point being cited. Needs review means the source may be useful but should not be treated as settled evidence without follow-up.
Visible citations
Source links should be visible on reference pages. Structured data can describe citations, but it should not contain source claims that are hidden from readers.
Image metadata and reuse
Site-generated images and social preview artwork are credited to SEE Change Happen Ltd. Unless a page states otherwise, reusable site imagery is described with Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licensing metadata so search engines and reusers can identify the licence, credit text, and copyright notice.
Credit should read: SEE Change Happen Ltd. Link reused images back to the page where they appear or to the LGBTQIA+ History Timeline homepage. Some third-party source records and external websites may use different image or content licences; always follow the underlying publisher's terms for material that is not created by SEE Change Happen Ltd.
Dead links and archives
When a source disappears or moves, the record should be updated with a working URL, an archive URL, or a replacement source. Dead links should be treated as maintenance issues rather than ignored.
