Editorial Standards

Our commitment

This page describes the standards applied to all published content on The Online Calendar, from country holiday calendars to editorial explainers and regional guides. These standards are applied by the Editorial Team and Research Team.

Data verification process

Primary source requirement

All public holiday data is sourced from the official authority responsible for that information in each country — national government websites, official gazettes, legislative databases, or regional administrative portals, depending on the country's governance structure. We do not rely on other holiday websites, aggregators, or unofficial community sources as primary references.

Cross-verification

Where multiple official sources exist for the same country, we cross-check both and note discrepancies. Regional holidays are explicitly labelled and distinguished from national public holidays.

Annual review cycle

Every country in our dataset is reviewed at minimum once per year. Countries with historically unstable holiday legislation are reviewed more frequently. The annual review cycle runs October through December, so the following year's data is published and verified before January 1.

Update policy

Scheduled updates

Holiday data for each new calendar year is published at least 60 days before January 1st of that year.

Unscheduled updates

When a government announces a new public holiday, changes an existing date, or cancels a previously announced holiday, we update our dataset as soon as the change is officially confirmed.

Last verified date

Every country page displays a "Last verified" date showing when the Research Team last confirmed the holiday data against official sources. This date is updated on each annual review pass and on any mid-year correction.

Correction policy

We correct confirmed errors promptly. When a data error is identified through a user report, Research Team review, or editorial audit, the following process applies:

1. The error is assessed against the official source for that country.
2. If confirmed, the data is updated in our dataset.
3. The Last verified date for the affected country is updated.
4. If the error was material (wrong date, wrong observance), a correction note is added to the country page.
5. If the error affected published editorial content, the content is amended and a correction note is added inline.

We do not silently correct factual errors in published editorial content. Corrections are noted inline. To report an error, use our contact form — include the country, year, the incorrect data, and a link to an official source where possible.

Holiday classification policies

Regional holiday handling

National public holidays are legislated at the federal or national level and observed across the entire country. Regional public holidays are legislated at a state, province, or territory level and observed only within that jurisdiction. We display national holidays by default. Regional data is shown where available, clearly labelled with the region name.

Observed and substitute holiday policy

Many countries declare an adjacent weekday as a day off when a statutory holiday falls on a weekend. We track both the statutory date and the observed/substitute date. Country pages display the observed date as the primary date — the operationally relevant date for workers, businesses, and payroll systems — while both dates appear in our structured data.

Naming consistency

Holiday names are published in two forms: the official local-language name sourced from the government publication, and an English common name for cross-country reference. We do not invent holiday names or apply our own naming conventions over official terminology.

Translation review principles

The Online Calendar publishes in 10 languages. UI chrome and navigation are fully translated. Holiday names are rendered in both the official local language and English — not machine-translated. Editorial content is originally written in English; translated editorial content is reviewed for factual accuracy in context before publication.

AI-assisted workflow disclosure

The Online Calendar uses AI-assisted tools in parts of its content and data workflow. We disclose this here.

In data extraction, AI tools help pull holiday data from government source documents. The Research Team reviews all AI-extracted data before publication. In content drafting, AI tools assist with editorial explainer copy; the Editorial Team reviews, edits, and approves everything before it goes live. In translation, AI tools provide initial drafts for non-English content, which are reviewed by a human before publication.

AI tools do not determine what is published. Human review is the final gate.

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