Clarify Review Team Guidelines regarding false information in reviews, especially in regard to misused page count declaration and inaccurate gendered pronouns
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Scott Hughes
These clarifications to the Guidelines have been added effective May 16th 2024:
- Do not mention a total page count for the book because that will not be accurate. Page counts vary by version and format (e.g. paperback vs. hardcover vs. pdf vs. epub vs Kindle vs Nook etc.). If you feel the length warrants special mention for a particular, specify the word count, as that does not vary from version to version.
- Do not specify the author's gender or use gendered pronouns unless you are certain of the author's gender. When in doubt, use gender neutral terms (e.g. "The author does a great job at..." instead of "She did a great job at...).
- Please consider the above two guidelines as specific examples of this more important and much broader overall rule: Do not write objectively false statements in your review. Do not present information as objectively accurate and absolutely true if you are not certain that it is objectively true and accurate.
Scott Hughes
Please note, this is not considered a change to the Guidelines, but rather it is considered a clarification with examples. It has always been considered a Guidelines violation for a reviewer to submit a review that contains objectively false information, such as saying the author is a man when the author is actually a woman, or saying the author is a Christian when they are actually Muslim, or saying the book is 100 pages when it is actually 200 pages or actually available in multiple versions with multiple page counts, or saying the book is an ebook when it is actually a print book or is actually available in multiple formats and versions.
Scott Hughes
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