Editorial Policy

M2 Editorial Policy

Statement of editorial independence

It is important that you can trust and rely upon editorial material that you receive from M2, so all staff and contributors are required to comply with our Statement of Editorial Independence.

Conflict of interest: As well as publishing a range of editorially-driven publications M2 operates M2PressWIRE®, a press release distribution service. Our editorial staff do not favour those companies who use the M2PressWIRE® service. Signing up for M2PressWIRE® carriage does not guarantee any coverage by our editorial teams.

Editorial coverage: Editorial coverage and carriage by our publications is made 'on merit' only. (See 'Ethical disclosure' below.)

Business relationships: M2 has business relationships with a number of companies and we make this information public through places such as the M2 website. In addition, M2 will disclose business relationships in editorial content where relevant, although we do not endorse any specific company or service unless clearly stated to the contrary. Where M2 has any advertising or affiliate links from its website, some revenue or referral fees are likely to be received from such companies. We do not sell third-party products, nor do we receive any of the vendor's transaction fee or become involved in any transaction unless clearly stated to the contrary.

Internet links: When links are provided to external sources we take all reasonable care to ensure that these are not made to offensive or improper material. However, we realise that Internet links can change and/or that some people may find such material offensive. Please do provide feedback to our staff where this is the case. Any links we provide do not imply an endorsement or approval of the company/product/service, any relationship or other means unless clearly stated to the contrary. Similarly, we do not warrant the material contained on third-party web sites.

If you have any questions regarding our editorial independence, please contact M2's group editor and managing director.

Corrections and updates

M2 seeks to maintain the highest standards of accuracy and completeness in our editorial coverage and it is our policy to correct errors and advise of clarifications or updates to any story. No error brought to the editor's or reporter's attention will be allowed to remain in an M2 article (the original article may still appear but we will issue a corrected version and distribute it to our partner network). However, for legal reasons we will not overwrite our story archive.

In these cases we normally issue a new version of the story, using the same headline (or copying the old headline into the headline for tracking purposes) which is prefaced with the UPDATE: tag. The first paragraph of the story will describe the correction, change or clarification. Requests for a clarification, update or correction should be made to the e-mail address (if listed) at the bottom of an individual story or, if there is no address, to info@m2.com by e-mail with a copy of the story, a clear explanation of any requested changes, supporting information and telephone/e-mail contact details.

Editorial disclosure

M2's editorial coverage is intended to be fair, accurate, and ethical and our aim is for our readers to trust it to be unbiased and based on fact and careful analysis. We operate a neutral editorial policy and undertake to identify the source of any material published which is not generated by M2 editorial staff or associated organisations.

As part of regular trade, M2 may have various business relationships with, and investments in and from a number of companies that may operate within sectors in which we provide editorial service coverage. Where this is the case, we will clearly identify and disclose business relationships in editorial content whenever relevant, and specifically where a M2 partner is a primary subject and there may be a perceived risk of conflict.

On occasions where M2 carries advertisements these will either be clearly labelled as advertisements or designed to ensure that an external service is not perceived as an M2 offering (for example, affiliate programmes operated by companies such as Amazon and Powells).

Financial disclosure (Financial trading and insider information)

As company policy, M2 seeks to ensure that its employees avoid any appearance of impropriety with regard to securities transactions or inside information about any company we cover. Employees are required to bring to senior management's attention any direct investments they hold in companies operating in sectors on which we provide editorial coverage. Investments through investment companies and financial products such as Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds are excluded since investment decisions are made by fund managers and not by individual fund subscribers.

Ethical disclosure

M2's editorial employees are required to refuse offers that could be misconstrued by the giver or give the impression that M2 is beholden to a company. This includes gifts of more than nominal value, travel, and tickets to entertainment or sporting events, unless M2's managing director has expressly permitted their acceptance.

Editorial employees often solicit products for review; however, no employee can keep any hardware for more than six months. Free accounts to online services will be closed after the review is published. Software, books and related media do not need to be returned, but cannot be resold or used for commercial purposes.

Tom Naysmith
Managing Director