About & Editorial Standards
Peace Garden Almanac is a story-first guide to North Dakota: its landscapes, people, history, roadside discoveries, and places worth experiencing in person. Our working promise is simple: every practical guide should explain why a place matters, and every history story should tell readers whether (and how) they can experience it today.
Peace Garden Almanac is an independent publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the International Peace Garden, the International Peace Garden Foundation, or the State of North Dakota.
This is the editorial standard we are adopting as the publication is built. It applies to articles, guides, newsletters, social posts, and commercial recommendations.
Prelaunch notice: Peace Garden Almanac is still in development. A named, accountable publisher and a monitored public contact address must be added to this page before launch. Until then, this site and its draft material should be treated as a working preview, not a finished publication.
Last updated: August 7, 2026 (prelaunch).
How we research
We start as close to the evidence as the subject allows. Depending on the story, that can mean government records, museum and archive catalogs, tribal and community sources, contemporary newspapers, scholarly research, maps, oral histories, and direct confirmation from the organization responsible for a place.
Official sources can be authoritative about their own records or operations, but they are not automatically neutral or complete. We compare independent sources when a claim is disputed, consequential, surprising, or repeated without clear evidence. Search snippets, AI output, crowdsourced pages, unsourced local lore, and optical character recognition are leads, not proof.
Each substantive story should include a readable source list or links close to the relevant claims. Quotes must be traceable to a recording, transcript, document, or direct interview. We do not invent dialogue, scenes, thoughts, or composite characters to make history feel more dramatic.
What we do with legends and uncertainty
North Dakota has excellent legends. We will tell them, but we will not quietly turn them into facts.
When the record is incomplete or experts disagree, we say so. We distinguish what documents establish, what a source recalls, what researchers infer, and what is simply a well-traveled story. If a famous claim cannot be verified, the uncertainty becomes part of the story rather than something to write around.
Visitor information changes
Hours, prices, road conditions, access rules, exhibits, tours, and seasonal services can change after an article is published. Guides should identify when key visitor details were last checked and link readers to the responsible park, museum, tribe, business, or public agency for confirmation. We also flag known issues involving private property, weather, accessibility, permits, and limited services.
Readers should check official conditions before making a long drive. An editorial estimate for time or difficulty will be labeled as an estimate, not presented as an operator's guarantee.
Indigenous nations and communities
North Dakota's Indigenous nations are living sovereign communities, not historical scenery. Coverage should begin with the names and descriptions communities use for themselves and prioritize tribal governments, cultural institutions, historians, knowledge keepers, and other first-party sources where appropriate.
We will not flatten distinct nations into a single viewpoint, disclose culturally restricted knowledge, or describe an item, design, or story as “Native-made” without a factual basis. Sensitive or interpretive work should receive knowledgeable review, with paid contributors or reviewers credited when they agree to be named. This is a publication standard and launch requirement; it is not a claim that every prelaunch draft has already completed such review.
Images, archives, and merchandise
“Available online” does not mean “free to use.” Every photograph, clipping, scan, map, illustration, and archival object must have item-level rights information before publication. Captions should name the creator and source, state the license or rights status when useful, and link to the original record when possible. Material used under a Creative Commons license must follow that license. AI-generated or materially AI-altered imagery must be clearly labeled.
Editorial permission and merchandise permission are separate decisions. An image cleared to illustrate an article will not be placed on a shirt, print, mug, or other product automatically. Merchandise should use original work, commissioned work with a written rights agreement, or material expressly cleared for commercial product use. We do not use protected logos, seals, insignia, tribal marks, or living people's likenesses in ways that imply endorsement.
Corrections and updates
Accuracy matters more than preserving our first wording. We correct confirmed factual errors promptly and add a dated correction or update note when a change is material. Minor spelling, grammar, formatting, and broken-link fixes may be made without a note when they do not change the meaning. We do not erase a fair correction merely because it is embarrassing.
Before public launch, this section must list a monitored corrections address and the name or role of the person accountable for responding:
- Accountable publisher: [REQUIRED BEFORE LAUNCH]
- Corrections and editorial contact: [REQUIRED BEFORE LAUNCH]
Independence, advertising, and affiliate links
Editorial judgment is not for sale. Sponsors, advertisers, tourism organizations, and merchants do not receive favorable coverage, rankings, or advance approval of independent editorial conclusions in exchange for money, products, or access.
Paid placements will be labeled clearly. Complimentary travel, admission, lodging, products, or other material support will be disclosed in the relevant story. If a page contains affiliate links, it will say so near the links; Peace Garden Almanac may earn a commission if a reader buys through them, without changing the reader's price. Store revenue, affiliate revenue, and advertising do not change the evidence standard.
AI-assisted workflow
AI-assisted tools may help organize research, surface search terms, transcribe or interpret difficult scans, generate outline or wording options, and check consistency. They are not sources, witnesses, editors of record, or substitutes for accountable review.
Before a draft is presented as published reporting, its factual claims, quotations, names, dates, links, rights records, and practical visitor details must be checked against the cited material by the accountable editorial publisher or an assigned reviewer. Sources must be opened and read; a plausible-looking citation is not enough. We will not publish synthetic quotations or hide materially AI-generated imagery. During prelaunch, drafts that have not passed this release gate remain labeled as drafts.