Sources Policy

Transparency is at the heart of everything we publish. Here's how we select, cite, and maintain the references behind every article on Central Alabama Finance.

Source hierarchy

We prioritize sources in the following order:

1. Official / Government — municipal codes, state statutes, federal regulations, census data.
2. Legal — court opinions, regulatory guidance, bar association resources.
3. Academic — peer-reviewed research, university publications.
4. Industry — trade associations, licensed professional organizations.
5. News / Reporting — reputable local and national journalism.

Citation format

Every source citation includes:

• Title — the name of the source document or dataset.
• URL — a direct link when available.
• Domain — the publishing domain for credibility assessment.
• Type — categorized as official, legal, news, academic, or other.

Source freshness

Sources are checked for freshness during each verification cycle. If a source URL returns a 404 or the underlying data has changed materially, the page is flagged for review and the confidence score is adjusted until the source is updated or replaced.

What we don't use

• Anonymous forums, user-generated content without editorial oversight.
• Sponsored or affiliate content presented as editorial.
• Sources behind paywalls that readers cannot independently verify.
• Social media posts unless from official institutional accounts.

If you notice a source issue, report it via our corrections page.

Last reviewed: March 12, 2026