Fact-Checking Policy

Our readers make practical decisions based on what we publish, often under time pressure before a trip, a job interview or a child's clinic visit. Fact-checking is therefore a core part of how Surokkha Guide works, not an afterthought. This page explains what we check, how we check it, what kinds of claims we avoid, and how we correct mistakes.

What gets checked

Before any guide is published, and at every scheduled review, we check:

• Process descriptions: that the general steps we describe for registration, certificate downloads, corrections and verification match what the official portal and related official notices say.
• Health statements: that information about vaccines, schedules, side effects and eligibility matches current guidance from DGHS, the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Our guides are not reviewed by a medical professional, so this check is about matching published guidance, not clinical judgement.
• Travel information: that anything we say about airline, embassy or destination requirements is framed as general and time-sensitive, with readers directed to the authority concerned.
• Names and terms: that official names, document names and abbreviations are used correctly.
• Links: that every link works and points to the intended page, and that links to the official portal go to surokkha.gov.bd.

How we check

Each factual claim in a draft is matched to a source from the top of our source hierarchy, described in our sources and references policy. If we cannot find a reliable source, the claim is rewritten in more general terms or removed. Health claims are checked a second time, against the cited sources, by our health content editor, Arif Hossain. The person doing the final fact-check reads the guide as a reader would, asking: could any sentence here lead someone to take a wrong or unsafe action?

We never test processes by entering real personal information into official systems, and we do not ask readers to send us their data so we can check anything. Where we cannot see a step, we say so.

Claims we avoid

Some details change often or vary by case. To avoid misleading readers, we generally do not publish:

• Precise statistics, such as numbers of people vaccinated, unless they come from an authoritative source that we cite.
• Specific fees, deadlines or processing times, unless they are well established, officially published and cited.
• Exact button labels or screen layouts that may change when a website is redesigned.
• Promises about outcomes, such as "your correction will be approved" or "this certificate will be accepted everywhere".
• Individual medical recommendations, such as telling a particular reader whether they should take a vaccine.

Instead, we describe what usually happens and point readers to the official source for the current detail.

How to report an error

If you think something on Surokkha Guide is wrong, outdated or unclear, please email hello@surokkha.app. Helpful reports include:

• The address of the page.
• The sentence or section you are concerned about.
• What you believe is correct, and a link to an official source if you have one.

Please do not send your National ID, birth registration or passport number, phone number, date of birth or a copy of your certificate. We do not need them, and we cannot use them to look up or fix any record.

Our corrections process

We acknowledge correction requests as soon as we reasonably can. We then check the report against official and authoritative sources. Reports that could affect someone's health or safety, or that concern a link to a wrong or suspicious website, are prioritised and handled first. Where we confirm an error, we correct the guide promptly, update its "Last reviewed" date if the change is substantive, and let the reader who reported it know when we can.

If we cannot confirm a report straight away, for example because an official process appears to be in the middle of changing, we may add a short notice to the guide telling readers to check the official portal while we investigate.

Correction notes

When a correction changes the meaning of a guide or could have affected a reader's decisions, we add a brief correction note near the end of the article describing what was changed and when. Minor fixes such as spelling, formatting or a broken link that has been updated do not usually receive a note.

Related policies

This policy works alongside our editorial policy, research methodology and content standards. For our full statement of independence and our medical disclaimer, see the disclaimer.