Editorial method

Scope

This method applies to WIMA’s institutional pages, policy records, research data, mobility releases, standards, public register records and correction notices. Each product may add a more specific method, but it may not lower the evidence or review controls described here.

Claims begin with an exact question

The editorial process reduces a material statement to a claim that can be checked. The claim record identifies the subject, jurisdiction, status, relevant dates, source, source location, limits, recorded checks and responsible body. A named reviewer is added only when one is formally appointed and documented. A broad claim is narrowed or withheld when the evidence does not support its full scope.

WIMA does not treat the absence of a contradiction as confirmation. A blank register field, an old website, a search result or a plausible industry practice does not establish a fact.

Source order

1. Primary public evidence is preferred for legal status, identity and formal decisions: legislation, official registers, gazettes, signed decisions and versioned public datasets.
2. Material from the responsible authority may explain administration, forms or public procedure, but it does not silently override controlling legal text.
3. Accountable secondary material may provide context or identify an evidence lead. It is not presented as the legal basis for a status when a primary source should exist.
4. Commercial summaries, social posts, snippets and generated summaries are discovery material only. They cannot support a material claim by themselves.

Dates, status and uncertainty

Publication, announcement, adoption, effective date and last verification are separate events. WIMA does not infer one from another. A record states when an effective date was not found in the sources checked.

Where authoritative sources differ, the page identifies the difference and its review date. Unknown, disputed, stale and not-applicable values remain distinct. A page is not described as current without a dated review record.

Publication responsibility and review

For this release, World Investment Migration Association is the accountable publisher and responsible editorial body. Each research, policy or methodology page states the checks recorded before publication. No separate substantive reviewer has been appointed for this release, and the pages do not claim separate or human peer review. A named author or reviewer is shown only when the identity, role and authority to act for WIMA are documented. WIMA does not use a generated persona, generic desk or software system as an author or approver.

Review covers the source’s authority, version, date, scope, relevant provision and later amendments. Quantitative work also requires the calculation, universe, exclusions, missing-data treatment and release identifier to be reproducible.

Use of automation

Software may retrieve, compare, classify or flag evidence. The publication record must disclose the checks applied and must not imply external or human peer review where none is recorded. The accountable publisher and responsible body assume responsibility for the wording presented to readers. Sensitive applications, identity documents and complaint records are outside the public editorial workflow.

Institutional claims

Claims about WIMA’s legal identity are limited to the approved facts on the legal identity page. People, governing bodies, members, external relationships, credentials, regulatory authority and adopted standards require separate records and approval. They are not inferred from the Swiss UID.

Versions and corrections

A fixed release or adopted document is not silently rewritten. Material corrections state the earlier value, the corrected value, the evidence, the date and the effect on conclusions or downstream records. Historical versions remain available when privacy, security and legal constraints permit.

The corrections page describes reporting, classification and the public notice standard.

Conflicts and publication decisions

A person should not be the sole approver of a claim about their own appointment, credential, organisation or commercial interest. A material conflict is recorded and the review is reassigned or qualified. Publication is withheld when an accountable reviewer, required source or conflict control is missing.

Limits of this method

A recorded method reduces avoidable error; it does not make WIMA a public authority and does not guarantee that a source remains unchanged after review. Readers should use the cited source and qualified advice for a decision specific to them.