Evidence & Citation Standards

Evidence labels for geographic and site facts

Every fact about a field site carries one of four labels. A fact moves to a higher label only when new evidence is recorded.

○ Unverified

Stated, described or suspected, but not checked against authoritative data or observed in the field. Includes preliminary interpretations from imagery or terrain.

◆ Mapped

Shown in an authoritative geographic dataset (for example, the USGS National Hydrography Dataset or Watershed Boundary Dataset), with the dataset and retrieval date recorded. Mapped is not the same as confirmed.

✓ Field confirmed

Directly observed at a known location and recorded in a faculty-reviewed observation.

■ Laboratory confirmed

Measured or identified in a laboratory with a stated method (for example, a toxin concentration or a molecular identification).

Labels for scientific statements

In the learning materials, statements that are not broadly established are labeled:

Established

Broad scientific agreement supported by many studies and reviews. Most unlabeled, cited statements are in this category.

Single study

A finding from one investigation; may not generalize.

Preliminary

Observations not yet replicated or reviewed — including first student results.

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation or prediction that needs testing.

Speculative

An idea or research proposal beyond current evidence.

Citation standards

• Significant scientific claims carry numbered citations that link to a reference list at the end of the page.
• Source priority: (1) peer-reviewed research; (2) U.S. EPA and USGS publications; (3) Kentucky Division of Water and other state scientific sources; (4) authoritative scientific databases; (5) recognized textbooks.
• No citation is typed from memory. Journal metadata — authors, year, title, journal, volume, pages and DOI — is retrieved from Crossref (USGS report numbers from the USGS Publications Warehouse) and stored in the portal's bibliography with the verification date. Three candidate DOIs that did not match the intended articles were removed during verification.
• Web pages are cited with their URL and the date they were read; agency facts are quoted from pages actually retrieved.
• Summaries in the Research Paper Library are original wording, and each states how it was written (from the abstract, or from less than the abstract) and that faculty review is pending.

Geographic data quality

• Every map layer identifies its provider, dataset, date or version, resolution, coverage and known limitations (see layer provenance).
• Site information is kept in four categories: verified (mapped) geographic facts, preliminary interpretations, field observations and research hypotheses.
• No watershed area, land-cover percentage or distance is published without real spatial data and a stated method.
• No flow path or tributary connection is drawn unless an authoritative dataset shows it, and then it is labeled Mapped.
• In Kentucky karst, groundwater movement may differ from surface drainage; surface boundaries are never presented as the full story.

Specific rules

• Allen Branch is not presented as a cyanobacterial bloom site without supporting data.
• Agricultural pollution is never inferred from the presence of nearby farms; nearby facilities are never treated as evidence of impact.
• Cyanotoxin production is never inferred from microscopic appearance, color or genus.
• Research results, specimen counts, water-quality measurements and monitoring activity are never invented; empty states say so plainly.

Images and licensing

Portal text and original diagrams are licensed CC BY 4.0, like the rest of Biology at SCC. Images from elsewhere are used only with a compatible license, and every image records its creator, license, attribution and source. Student photographs are published only with credit, consent and faculty review. Map tiles and data remain the property of their providers, credited on the map.

Student information and publication

Student names appear publicly only with consent; student email addresses are never published. Draft and unpublished records are never stored in the site's public code repository. Observations and project results are published only after faculty review.

Corrections

Found an error, a broken link or a claim that needs a better source? Contact justin.howard@kctcs.edu. Corrections are made openly; superseded records are archived, not deleted.

Development roadmap