Editorial policy

This page explains how Lab Dossier researches and checks its content, so a teacher or parent can judge how much to trust a given page.

Sourcing

Safety guidance is checked against published standards from organizations like the American Chemical Society and OSHA. Formulas and constants (density, gravitational acceleration, standard metric conversions) are checked against standard reference values from NIST. Where a lab procedure is a well-known classroom activity, the version on this site is written independently rather than copied from another source, and checked for accuracy before publishing.

Sample data

Data tables in a lab file show sample values, worked examples, or blank rows for a student to fill in during their own trial — they are never presented as real measurements from a real experiment we ran. Any expected result described in a lab file (for example, which liquid an egg gains mass in) is based on the established science behind the activity, not a single trial.

Safety on every article

Every hands-on lab article displays a topic-specific safety check before the procedure and includes it in the printable student sheet. Reference articles explain safe application where relevant and state when they do not provide a hands-on procedure. Teachers, families, and students must still follow the exact product label, school rules, and supervising adult's directions for their setting.

Tools

Every calculator on this site shows its formula and its work, not just a final number, so a student can check the math by hand. Tools that generate a random practice problem (like the graduated cylinder reader) pick a new value on each visit and are meant for practice, not for grading.

Updates

Each lab file and reference page lists the date it was last updated. A page is revised when a factual error is found, a safety guideline changes, or the content needs to be made clearer — not on a fixed schedule.

Corrections

Report a suspected error through the contact page. Every report is checked against the original source. Substantive changes belong in the public corrections register.

Evidence and research methodology

See the content-evaluation methodology for how the site distinguishes study designs, uncertainty, model limits, expert review, and peer review.