Editorial Policy

Last updated: 2026-05-21

This page lays out how Goodboy Atlas's content is created, reviewed, and revised. The short version: every calculator and article cites real veterinary sources, sponsor money never tilts the math, and we update content when the underlying consensus changes.

Our editorial standard

1. Source first. Every calculator formula and every claim of fact is traceable to a published veterinary source (NRC, WSAVA, AAHA, AAFP, peer-reviewed journals, breed associations). Sources are listed at the bottom of each page.
2. Honest variance. We show ranges and ±error where they exist, not false-precision single numbers. Pet biology has genuine variation; pretending otherwise is misleading.
3. Plain language. If a 12-year-old pet owner can't follow the explanation, the explanation needs fixing — not the reader.
4. Vet-deferral by default. Where a decision is medical, we point you to a vet. Calculators are decision-support, not diagnosis.

How we choose sources

Preferred sources, in order:

1. Peer-reviewed journal articles (JAVMA, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, Journal of Small Animal Practice, British Journal of Nutrition, Veterinary Clinics of North America)
2. Veterinary association guidelines (NRC, WSAVA, AAHA, AAFP, AKC)
3. Government data (USDA FoodData Central, FDA pet-food regulations)
4. Manufacturer disclosures (only for product specs — never for nutritional claims)

We avoid: pet-food brand calculators (conflict of interest), Wikipedia (too unstable for medical content), AI-generated summaries, and uncited blog content — including our own. If we can't find a real source for a claim, we don't make the claim.

Editorial independence from advertising

Goodboy Atlas is funded by display advertising (Google AdSense) and nothing else. There are no affiliate links, product commissions, sponsored placements, or paid content anywhere on this site. We removed the affiliate programme entirely rather than keep a revenue stream that gives us a reason to prefer one product over another. Specifically:

• No commerce, anywhere. No product links earn us money. If a page names a product category, it is because the category is the answer to the question — not because there is a commission attached to it.
• Ad slots are served programmatically by Google. We don't review the individual ads served and we don't endorse them. If you see an ad here that seems misleading, tell us and we'll report it.
• No advertising appears above emergency information, ever. On every toxicity page the poison-hotline numbers and the result come first; any ad unit sits at the very end of the page, after the calculator, the result and the methodology. If your dog has eaten chocolate at 2am, nothing competes for your attention until you have the phone number and the number that matters.
• The most acute emergency pages carry no advertising at all — the lily, acetaminophen, toxic-foods, emergency-calculators and help pages have no ad units on them in any position.
• This is enforced by a build check, not by good intentions. An earlier version of this policy claimed something stricter and quietly stopped being true; the check now measures where each unit actually sits.
• Recommendations in FAQ answers and methodology pages don't promote specific brands beyond what's already a generic example or a citation. If we say "talk to your vet" we mean it — we won't substitute that with a product link.

How we update calculators

Pet nutrition guidelines change rarely (NRC's last major dog/cat update was 2006; AAHA updates roughly every 5–7 years). When the underlying consensus changes, we update the affected calculators within 30 days and bump the "Last updated" date at the top of the page.

Smaller updates — copy clarifications, typo fixes, FAQ additions — happen continuously without changing the date stamp. If you spot an error, tell us; we read every email.

Author and reviewer

Carl writes, builds, and maintains Goodboy Atlas. Carl is a long-time pet owner, not a veterinarian. The site does not claim veterinary authority — it provides decision-support tools based on published veterinary research. See about Carl for the bio and qualifications disclosure.

Where a veterinary professional reviews specific content, the page is annotated with a "Reviewed by [Dr. Name, DVM]" credit. As of this writing, third-party veterinary review is in progress and will be surfaced page-by-page as it happens.

Corrections policy

We correct errors openly. Material corrections (math fixes, source-replacement, threshold changes) are noted at the bottom of the affected page with the date and what was changed. Typo and formatting fixes aren't logged individually but always trigger a "Last updated" date bump if more than a handful accumulate.

Out of scope

Goodboy Atlas does not, and will not, cover:

• Veterinary diagnosis — that's a vet's job. We point you to one.
• Drug dosing — too dangerous to get wrong, and a clear veterinary boundary.
• Behavior assessment via questionnaire — too speculative.
• Breed-from-photo identification — requires unreliable ML.

Contact

Editorial questions, source disputes, or correction requests: contact page. Partnership inquiries: /partnership. Both go to a real person.