TLS law school profiles editorial policy

TLS Law School Profiles Editorial Policy

Policy reviewed August 30, 2026.

TLS law-school profiles are prepared to help prospective students make evidence-based decisions. Accuracy, clarity, independence, and practical usefulness take precedence over promotional language, search-engine tactics, or the interests of a school, advertiser, or affiliated business.

Editorial Mission

Profiles should answer the questions an applicant needs to evaluate admission, cost, scholarships, employment, bar passage, programs, geography, accreditation, and material risks. Search visibility should follow from current sources, original analysis, transparent definitions, useful structure, and maintenance—not from repetitive or keyword-stuffed text.

Factual Standards

TLS does not:

• invent or predict a statistic;
• fabricate a source, quotation, program, deadline, dean, address, phone number, or email;
• combine data periods without labeling them;
• describe a median as a cutoff;
• promise admission, aid, employment, salary, or bar passage;
• imply that a concentration guarantees work in a field;
• repeat institutional marketing language as objective fact;
• copy substantial source language; or
• conceal a material source conflict.

If a fact cannot be verified, TLS omits it or discloses the limitation. Calculations preserve the numerator and denominator and identify the method.

Sources and Citations

Primary regulatory and official institutional sources receive priority. Citations appear near material claims. Secondary sources may provide context; anecdotal sources are explicitly labeled and cannot establish admissions, cost, scholarship, employment, bar, or accreditation facts.

See the source and update policy and data methodology.

Analysis and Opinion

TLS may explain trade-offs, calculate a supported rate, or identify a school's strongest geographic value proposition. The reasoning must arise from cited evidence. Analysis is distinguished from fact, avoids false precision, and identifies material countervailing evidence.

Profiles are not endorsements. A school can be a sound option for one applicant and a poor fit for another because cost, geography, goals, risk tolerance, and licensing plans differ.

Rankings

Ranking references are dated, attributed, limited, and subordinate to direct outcome and cost data. TLS does not reproduce large proprietary tables or treat one-year movement as proof of a corresponding change in quality. See Law school rankings: methodology and limitations.

School and Commercial Participation

Schools, alumni, students, and readers may submit evidence or request a correction. No source can purchase a factual change, favorable conclusion, ranking treatment, link, or omission.

Advertising, sponsorship, recruiting, job-board, or other commercial relationships must not determine profile conclusions. An affiliated resource may be linked only when it is relevant, useful, disclosed where appropriate, and held to the same standard as an unaffiliated source. It must not replace a more authoritative primary source.

Authorship and Review

When no named author or reviewer completed the work, the page states: “Prepared by the TLS Editorial Team from cited public sources.” TLS does not invent a reviewer, credential, attorney review, admissions expertise, or review event.

A named reviewer is shown only with that person's permission, actual review, relevant credentials, and the review date. Automated drafting or research assistance does not replace human editorial accountability.

Images and Quotations

Images require ownership, permission, compatible licensing, or an approved fair-use basis. TLS does not copy or hotlink a school image merely because it is publicly visible. Captions are factual and alt text serves accessibility. See TLS law school profile image and accessibility policy.

Source language is paraphrased except for a short quotation that is necessary, accurately transcribed, and cited.

Historical Content

Old information is retained when it remains useful and is accurately dated. Closed and merged schools receive status-first pages. A historical page is not presented as an active admissions option.

Corrections and Change Records

Material corrections are evaluated against evidence, applied promptly when verified, and recorded internally. A correction does not erase an accurate historical statement merely because the underlying facts later changed. See the corrections policy.

Publication Approval

No profile is ready merely because a draft exists. Publication requires factual, citation, MediaWiki, link, canonical, image-rights, accessibility, and human-review checks. Edits use conflict protection and never silently overwrite newer human work.