Editorial policy

Editorial independence

Editorial decisions on NC County Map — what we publish, how we describe it, what we link to, and what we leave out — are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, and partners. We do not accept payment in exchange for favorable coverage, link placement, the inclusion of a specific source, or the omission of facts. Advertisers cannot preview, approve, or veto editorial content, and they receive no special treatment in our internal-link graph.

Sourcing standards

Every factual claim on this site is traced to a primary source — typically the U.S. Census Bureau, NC OneMap, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the NC Department of the Secretary of State, or an official county government site. We do not cite Wikipedia, generic data aggregators, or AI-generated summaries as the source of a statistic when a primary record exists. Our full source list and update cadence live on the methodology page.

When the official record is ambiguous (for example, when two government pages give different population estimates for the same year), we follow the most recent Census release and note the discrepancy in the editorial text.

Author bylines and review

Long-form articles carry an author byline linking to a short bio describing the writer's relevant background. Reference and data pages are reviewed by the editorial team rather than bylined to a single author; the "updated" date at the top of each page reflects the most recent human review. New pages and substantial rewrites are read by a second editor before publication.

Use of AI

We do not publish AI-generated content as-is. AI tools (large language models, translation models, summarisation tools) may be used during research and drafting — for example, to summarise a long government PDF, suggest an outline, or spot-check a statistic — but every published page is reviewed, edited, and verified by a human editor against primary sources before it goes live. We do not use AI to fabricate quotes, attributions, or sources.

Corrections

We correct errors promptly. Material corrections — anything that changes the meaning of a statistic, a date, a name, or a boundary — are posted as a dated note at the bottom of the affected page describing what changed. Minor typo and styling fixes are made silently. Every correction is logged internally with the date, reason, and the editor who reviewed the change. To report an error, use the contact page and include the URL plus a link to the primary source supporting your correction.

Advertising and sponsored content

NC County Map is supported by display advertising and reader contributions. Display ads are served by third-party networks; they are not chosen or endorsed by our editors. We do not run affiliate links inside editorial copy. If we ever publish sponsored content, it will be prominently labeled "Sponsored," will not be indexed under our editorial taxonomy, and will not be counted in our internal-link graph.

Opinion and politics

NC County Map is a reference and explanatory site. We do not endorse political candidates, parties, or ballot measures, and we do not publish opinion essays. Where civic procedure is relevant — for example, voter registration deadlines or how to find your county's Board of Elections — we link directly to the official source so that readers can confirm details against the authoritative record.

Reader privacy

We collect only the analytics necessary to understand how readers use the site and to improve our pages. See our privacy policy for the specifics, including how we handle cookies and any data shared by third-party ad networks.