Correction Policy
How to tell us we got something wrong — what happens next, how quickly, and how you get credited for the fix.
Why corrections matter
Nations Atlas covers 250 countries and thousands of specific cultural claims. No editorial team — however careful, however well-reviewed — can produce that volume of writing without making mistakes. What we can commit to is a clear, honest process for hearing about mistakes and fixing them quickly.
Every reader who takes the time to point out an error makes the site better for everyone who comes after them. We are grateful for that, and we credit it openly where the contributor wants to be credited.
What counts as a correction
We treat any of the following as corrections worth acting on:
- Factual errors — an incorrect statistic, capital, currency, date, name, or figure.
- Outdated information — a fact that was correct when we published but has since changed.
- Cultural inaccuracy — a claim about a culture that is wrong, misleading, or lacks important nuance.
- Language errors — a mistranslation, a misspelled place name, or an outdated term.
- Missing context — a statement that is technically true but leaves out something important for the reader to understand.
- Broken or misleading links — internal or external.
- Attribution mistakes — a source that is misattributed or misquoted.
How to submit a correction
You can submit a correction in any of three ways:
- Email us at editorial@nationsatlas.com — this is the fastest route.
- Use the correction form at nationsatlas.com/contact and select Corrections as the category.
- Message us on social — Twitter/X at @nationsatlas or Pinterest DM — although email is significantly faster for corrections.
What to include in your correction
To help us action the correction quickly, please include:
- The URL of the page where the issue appears.
- The specific sentence, claim, or figure that is wrong. Copy and paste it if possible.
- Why it is wrong, in your own words.
- A source we can verify the corrected information against — a government website, a peer-reviewed paper, a reputable news outlet, a linguistic authority, or your own first-hand experience of the culture in question.
- How you would like to be credited, if at all. See the credit section below.
URL: https://nationsatlas.com/japan/tipping/
Claim: "Tipping is expected in high-end restaurants in Tokyo."
Why wrong: Tipping is not expected anywhere in Japan and can be experienced as rude. This applies in high-end restaurants as much as anywhere else.
Source: Japan National Tourism Organization guidance on tipping.
Credit: "Reviewed by Aiko M., Tokyo resident."
Response timeline
Our targets for correction handling, in business days:
- Acknowledgement of your correction: within 3 business days.
- Minor factual corrections (typos, single-word fixes, updated statistics): actioned within 3 business days.
- Substantive corrections (rewriting a section, adding missing context, revising a cultural claim): actioned within 7 business days.
- Major corrections (a whole page requiring rework and re-review by our cultural reviewer network): actioned within 21 business days.
- Complex disputes (contested claims where sources conflict): may take longer; we will keep you updated.
We miss these targets occasionally. When we do, we say so.
Levels of correction
Every change we make to a page falls into one of three categories, and each is handled slightly differently:
- Silent update. Typos, formatting fixes, broken link repairs. No changelog entry.
- Logged correction. A factual or cultural change that materially affects the reader's understanding. The last verified date is updated, and the change is logged in our public correction log below.
- Correction note. A change that alters a specific claim we previously made. In addition to the changelog entry, we add a visible note at the bottom of the affected page saying what changed and when. The correction note remains on the page indefinitely.
Credit for contributors
If your correction is substantive — meaning it clears the threshold for a logged correction or a correction note — we credit you on the page. We offer four levels of credit and you choose:
- Full credit — your name (and, optionally, city and expertise) at the top of the affected page: e.g. Correction by Aiko M., Tokyo resident.
- Named in log only — your name appears in the correction log but not on the page itself.
- Initials only — your initials appear in the correction log.
- Anonymous — the correction is logged but you are not named anywhere.
We never publish your email address, and we never share your details with third parties.
The public correction log
Every logged correction is recorded in our public correction log at nationsatlas.com/correction-log. Each entry includes:
- The date of the correction.
- The URL of the affected page.
- A one-sentence summary of what changed.
- Credit to the person who flagged it (as they requested).
The correction log is public because transparency about our mistakes is part of earning your trust.
What we cannot change on request
Some kinds of change fall outside our correction policy:
- Political framings you disagree with, unless you can show them to be factually inaccurate. We use the framings recommended by our editorial and cultural sensitivity policies; we are open to those framings being wrong on the facts, not on political grounds alone.
- Removing a country's coverage entirely, unless you can point to legal or ethical grounds under our other policies.
- Removing coverage of documented events — such as historical atrocities — because they are unflattering.
- Removing accurate coverage of laws and social conditions because a government prefers different framing.
Where we decline to make a requested change, we tell you why and point you to the relevant policy.
The wider reference
Sister sites worth bookmarking
Questions about this page
Common questions readers ask about this policy.
Email editorial@nationsatlas.com with the URL of the page, the specific claim that is wrong, why it is wrong, and a source we can verify against. You can also use the contact form and select 'Corrections' as the category. We acknowledge corrections within 3 business days and action minor fixes within 3 to 7 business days.
Minor factual corrections such as typos or single-figure updates are actioned within 3 business days. Substantive corrections involving rewrites are actioned within 7 business days. Major corrections that need re-review by our cultural reviewer network are actioned within 21 business days.
Yes, if you want to be. We offer four levels of credit: full credit with your name on the page, named in the correction log only, initials in the log, or anonymous. You choose. We never publish your email address.
Yes. Every logged correction is recorded in our public correction log at nationsatlas.com/correction-log with the date, page URL, a one-line summary, and credit to the person who flagged it as they requested.
Where we decline to make a requested change, we tell you why in writing and point you to the relevant policy. We do not remove accurate coverage because it is unflattering, and we do not change editorial framings on political grounds alone — but we are always open to being shown that we are wrong on the facts.