Contributor Terms

These terms apply to people who receive contributor, research, editorial, or similar publishing access to sherafy.com.

They are intended to keep the contributor program simple: contributors remain responsible for their work, sherafy.com can responsibly edit and maintain what it publishes, and neither side accidentally creates obligations that were never agreed to.

By accepting a contributor account or submitting work for publication after being presented with these terms, you agree to them.

1. The contributor program is selective

sherafy.com does not provide public account registration.

Contributor access is offered selectively to people whose research, writing, expertise, judgment, or proposed work appears compatible with the publication.

Applying does not guarantee:

  • account access;
  • an assignment;
  • publication;
  • payment;
  • continued access; or
  • acceptance of any particular submission.

Unless sherafy.com expressly establishes another arrangement, contributors must be at least 18 years old.

2. Contributors are independent

Participation in the contributor program does not by itself make a contributor:

  • an employee of sherafy.com;
  • an employee of Sherafgan Khan;
  • an employee of SFK Inc.;
  • an employee of Fabled Sky Community Projects;
  • an agent authorized to bind any of those parties;
  • a partner or joint venturer; or
  • an exclusive writer or researcher.

Contributors ordinarily control whether they participate and what ideas they propose, subject to sherafy.com’s editorial process and publishing decisions.

A different relationship can exist only where separately agreed in writing.

3. Editorial standards apply

All contributor work must comply with sherafy.com’s:

The central requirement is simple:

Contributors must make a good-faith effort to distinguish what the evidence establishes from allegation, interpretation, inference, uncertainty, and opinion.

A contributor should not knowingly omit material evidence merely because it weakens a preferred conclusion.

4. You remain responsible for work published under your name

sherafy.com is an AI-native publication and permits responsible use of AI and other research software.

AI may assist with:

  • research;
  • document review;
  • analysis;
  • drafting;
  • editing;
  • data work;
  • transcription;
  • translation;
  • coding;
  • source discovery; and
  • other parts of the editorial process.

But a contributor whose name appears on a work remains responsible for understanding and standing behind that work.

Do not submit model output you have not meaningfully reviewed.

Material factual claims should ultimately rest on appropriate evidence rather than the confidence of an automated system.

5. Do not place confidential material into third-party AI systems without authorization

Research material can sometimes contain:

  • unpublished information;
  • personal information;
  • confidential source information;
  • embargoed material;
  • client information;
  • credentials;
  • internal records; or
  • legally restricted information.

Do not upload material of that kind into third-party AI, transcription, storage, or analysis systems unless you have authority to do so and the use is appropriate.

When in doubt, ask before using an external system.

6. Rights in your original work

Unless a separate written agreement says otherwise, a contributor retains copyright in original material they create.

By submitting material that sherafy.com accepts for publication, the contributor grants sherafy.com a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, continuing license to:

  • publish the material;
  • reproduce it;
  • host it;
  • distribute it;
  • display it;
  • format it;
  • edit it;
  • excerpt it;
  • create headlines, summaries, social posts, previews, and promotional material from it;
  • adapt it to different site formats;
  • archive it;
  • preserve prior versions;
  • make corrections and updates;
  • include it in feeds, search systems, archives, databases, newsletters, social platforms, and other distribution channels; and
  • permit service providers and distribution platforms to perform the technical acts necessary to do those things.

This license allows sherafy.com to maintain a stable publication and historical archive without requiring a new copyright transfer every time an article is updated, reformatted, cached, indexed, or promoted.

It does not prevent the contributor from using their own original work elsewhere unless a separate agreement creates exclusivity.

7. Previously published and third-party material

Do not submit material that you do not have the right to publish.

This includes:

  • copied articles;
  • copyrighted photographs without appropriate rights;
  • substantial unattributed passages;
  • proprietary datasets;
  • illegally disclosed confidential material;
  • another person’s unpublished work;
  • material subject to an agreement preventing publication; and
  • media whose license does not permit the proposed use.

Quotation, criticism, reporting, and other legally permitted uses of third-party material may of course be appropriate.

The existence of copyright does not mean that every use requires permission.

The contributor is responsible for identifying third-party material so sherafy.com can evaluate attribution, licensing, fair use, and other relevant considerations.

8. Editing

Publication through sherafy.com includes an editorial process.

sherafy.com may:

  • edit copy;
  • change structure;
  • rewrite headlines;
  • improve sourcing;
  • correct grammar;
  • add context;
  • request additional evidence;
  • remove unsupported claims;
  • add disclosures;
  • add links;
  • change formatting;
  • update metadata;
  • add or replace images;
  • improve search presentation;
  • revise summaries;
  • correct factual errors; and
  • update published work when new evidence emerges.

Where practicable, we should avoid materially changing an attributed contributor’s substantive conclusion in a way that misrepresents the contributor’s position without discussing the change.

That does not prevent sherafy.com from correcting an error, responding to a legal issue, or adding material evidence when prompt action is reasonably necessary.

9. Publication is discretionary

sherafy.com is never required to publish a submission merely because work was performed on it.

A submission may be:

  • accepted;
  • edited;
  • returned for additional work;
  • delayed;
  • combined with other reporting;
  • reassigned;
  • declined; or
  • abandoned.

Publication decisions can take into account evidence quality, duplication, legal risk, resources, relevance, editorial fit, and whether the work ultimately answers a useful question.

10. Attribution and bylines

Published work will normally identify the contributor when a byline is appropriate.

A byline is not a guarantee that the page will remain unchanged forever.

sherafy.com may add editors, researchers, contributors, update notices, correction notes, or other attribution when necessary to accurately describe the work.

In unusual circumstances, sherafy.com may remove or modify attribution for legal, safety, integrity, impersonation, fraud, or other legitimate reasons.

11. Corrections and later updates

Published work may remain online and continue changing after its original author stops contributing.

sherafy.com may correct or update previously published work where:

  • facts change;
  • new evidence appears;
  • a calculation is discovered to be wrong;
  • a case or investigation develops;
  • a source changes;
  • a link breaks;
  • a legal development changes the answer;
  • additional context becomes necessary; or
  • an earlier statement requires correction.

A contributor does not have a veto over legitimate corrections to an article simply because an earlier version appeared under their name.

Material corrections should be handled consistently with sherafy.com’s Editorial Standards.

12. Withdrawal and removal requests

A contributor may ask sherafy.com to remove or substantially revise a published work.

We will consider such requests in good faith, but publication creates an editorial and historical record.

Removal is therefore not automatic.

Depending on the circumstances, sherafy.com may instead:

  • correct the work;
  • update it;
  • add context;
  • remove particular information;
  • change attribution;
  • add an editorial note;
  • archive it; or
  • leave the work published.

Legal obligations, source protection, public interest, citation history, existing links, editorial integrity, and historical value may all be relevant.

13. Compensation

The contributor program is not automatically a paid freelance program.

Unless sherafy.com and a contributor agree otherwise in writing:

  • submitting work does not create a right to payment;
  • publication does not create a right to payment;
  • advertising revenue generated by the site does not automatically belong to the contributor;
  • affiliate revenue does not automatically belong to the contributor; and
  • no revenue-sharing arrangement should be assumed.

sherafy.com may separately offer:

  • project payments;
  • commissions;
  • stipends;
  • grants;
  • revenue sharing;
  • supported research;
  • travel or reporting support; or
  • other compensation.

Any such arrangement should be documented separately.

14. Expenses

Contributors should not incur significant expenses expecting reimbursement without prior approval.

Unless sherafy.com has agreed to reimburse an expense, the contributor is responsible for it.

15. Conflicts of interest

Contributors should disclose relationships that could reasonably affect how readers evaluate their work.

Depending on the subject, relevant relationships can include:

  • employment;
  • consulting;
  • investments;
  • paid advocacy;
  • political work;
  • personal involvement;
  • research funding;
  • gifts;
  • free products;
  • family or business relationships; and
  • other material financial or professional interests.

A conflict does not automatically prevent publication.

Failing to disclose a material conflict can.

16. Sponsored or supported research

A contributor may participate in work funded or supported by an outside party only if the arrangement is compatible with sherafy.com’s Editorial Independence policy.

Outside support cannot require:

  • a predetermined conclusion;
  • suppression of contradictory evidence;
  • deceptive presentation;
  • fabricated neutrality;
  • omission of material conflicts; or
  • sponsor approval of sherafy.com’s factual conclusions.

17. Sources and confidentiality

Do not promise a source confidentiality, anonymity, legal protection, or information-security arrangement that sherafy.com has not actually agreed to provide.

If a source requires special handling, discuss it with an editor before making commitments.

A contributor should also avoid placing sensitive source information into ordinary publishing fields, third-party tools, or public drafts unnecessarily.

18. Legal and ethical responsibility

By submitting material, you represent in good faith that:

  • you have the right to submit it;
  • you have not knowingly fabricated material facts or sources;
  • you have not knowingly plagiarized the work;
  • you have disclosed material conflicts when appropriate;
  • you have not knowingly violated another person’s confidentiality merely to create a publishable story;
  • you have not knowingly misrepresented manipulated evidence as authentic evidence; and
  • you have not intentionally used sherafy.com to commit unlawful acts.

Honest mistakes are different from deliberate deception.

If an error is discovered, contributors are expected to cooperate in correcting it.

19. Account security

Contributor accounts are personal.

Do not:

  • give your login to another person;
  • sell or transfer your account;
  • intentionally bypass security controls;
  • publish through another contributor’s identity; or
  • use the account for unrelated commercial spam or unauthorized access.

Use strong authentication and MFA when available.

If you believe an account has been compromised, report it promptly.

20. Account suspension or termination

sherafy.com may suspend or terminate contributor access when reasonably necessary.

Reasons may include:

  • inactivity;
  • security concerns;
  • repeated editorial problems;
  • plagiarism;
  • fabricated evidence;
  • undisclosed conflicts;
  • abusive conduct;
  • unauthorized publication;
  • account sharing;
  • legal risk;
  • misuse of site systems; or
  • a determination that the relationship is no longer a good fit.

Termination of account access does not automatically require sherafy.com to remove material previously published under the contributor’s byline.

Licenses already granted for accepted and published work continue to the extent reasonably necessary to maintain, archive, distribute, update, and defend that publication.

21. Privacy

Contributor application information, account information, editorial communications, drafts, and related records are handled under the sherafy.com Policies, Privacy & Terms.

Because contributor work can become part of the publication’s editorial history, deletion of an account does not necessarily require deletion of published articles, editorial records, citations, correction history, or records that must reasonably be retained.

22. No guarantee of platform availability

Contributor tools and publishing systems may change, malfunction, be replaced, or become unavailable.

Contributors should retain their own copies of important original research and source materials where lawful and appropriate.

Do not assume sherafy.com is the sole permanent storage location for your research.

23. Changes to these terms

These terms may be updated as the contributor program evolves.

When a material change significantly affects active contributors, sherafy.com should make reasonable efforts to communicate that change.

A separate written agreement between sherafy.com and a contributor controls over these general terms to the extent the two directly conflict.

24. Questions

Questions about the contributor program can be submitted through the sherafy.com Contact page.

Privacy-related requests may be directed to:

[email protected]