Editorial Standards & Guidelines

Relationship Rules — How We Create Our Content

Every article published on Relationship Rules is written to one standard: it must genuinely help the person reading it. We cover relationships, love, heartbreak, and personal growth — topics that matter deeply to real people navigating real situations. We take that responsibility seriously.

Our Editorial Mission

Relationship Rules exists to help people understand themselves and their relationships more clearly. Since 2012, we have reached over 16 million people through our content. That reach comes with an obligation to be accurate, compassionate, and honest — not just popular.

We do not publish content to fill a quota. Every piece we publish earns its place by offering something real: a perspective that helps someone feel less alone, advice grounded in how people actually behave, or a story that reflects an experience our readers recognize in their own lives.

How Our Content Is Created

Topic Selection

We choose topics based on three criteria:

1. Reader need — Is this something our audience is actively searching for or struggling with?
2. Substance — Can we say something genuinely useful, or would the piece be filler?
3. Accuracy — Can the claims we make be supported by established psychological research, professional consensus, or well-documented human experience?

We do not chase trending topics for traffic alone. If a subject cannot meet all three criteria, it does not get published.

Research & Writing

Our writers draw on:

• Peer-reviewed psychology and behavioral research — including findings from relationship science, attachment theory, and cognitive behavioral frameworks
• Input from licensed professionals — where relevant, articles are informed by or reviewed by licensed therapists, counselors, or certified relationship coaches
• Real-world observation — our editorial team has spent over a decade studying how people talk about and navigate relationships across platforms reaching tens of millions

When an article makes a behavioral or psychological claim, we either link to a supporting source or clearly signal when something reflects perspective rather than established fact.

Review Process

Before publication, every article goes through an internal editorial review that checks for:

• Accuracy — Are the claims supportable? Are they framed appropriately?
• Tone — Is the content compassionate and constructive, not alarmist or harmful?
• Clarity — Is the advice actionable and clearly explained?
• Balance — Does the piece reflect the complexity of real relationships, rather than oversimplifying?

Articles covering mental health, trauma, abuse, or clinical psychological conditions are held to a higher standard and, where appropriate, reviewed by a qualified professional before publication.

AI and Human Authorship

Every article published on Relationship Rules is written, edited, and owned by a human author. Our editorial voice, research, perspectives, and the ideas in our content come from our team. Human authorship is the foundation of everything we publish.

We do sometimes use AI-powered tools in our content process — to assist with language refinement, to suggest structural improvements, or to support research and translation. When we do, this is supplementary: a tool to help a human writer communicate more clearly, not a substitute for their thinking, knowledge, or judgment. AI does not write our articles. A human writer develops, writes, and takes editorial responsibility for every piece we publish. Our review process is entirely human.

We believe our readers deserve to know this. If AI is ever used in a more significant role than described above, we will say so explicitly in that piece.

What We Will Not Publish

We do not publish content that:

• Encourages harmful behaviors in relationships, including manipulation, isolation, or emotional abuse
• Makes clinical diagnoses or treatment recommendations — we are not a substitute for professional mental health care
• Uses sensational or misleading headlines that do not reflect the actual content of the article
• Recycled or plagiarized content — every piece published on Relationship Rules is original

Corrections Policy

We get things wrong occasionally. When we do, we fix them.

If you find a factual error in any of our articles, please use our Contact page to report it. We will review the claim within 5 business days and issue a correction if warranted. Corrected articles are updated in-place with a note at the bottom indicating what was changed and when.

Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure

Relationship Rules is a reader-supported publication. Some articles may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you purchase something we recommend. This never influences our editorial judgement — we do not recommend products we would not stand behind independently.

Sponsored content, when it appears, is clearly labelled as such. Advertisers have no influence over our editorial content.

Our Commitment to Mental Health Sensitivity & Health Related Content

Relationship difficulties are often connected to deeper mental health challenges. We write with awareness of this. Our content:

• Does not trivialize anxiety, depression, trauma, or grief
• Encourages professional support when a situation goes beyond what an article can address
• Avoids framing that stigmatizes people seeking therapy or counselling

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out to a qualified professional. In an emergency, contact your local crisis line or emergency services. Our articles are for informational purposes only and ARE NOT a replacement for doctors or medicines – please consult a doctor if you’re experiencing any medical condition.

Content Removal

If you believe any content on Relationship Rules infringes on your copyright or misrepresents your work, please visit our Content Removal Request page. We respond to all valid removal requests promptly.

Questions About Our Standards

If you have questions about how a specific article was researched or written, reach out via our Contact page. We are happy to explain our sourcing and process.

Last reviewed: March 2026.

Sources We Reference

When our articles draw on psychological research or health science, we cite from established, publicly accessible sources. Below are the primary research institutions and open-access publications our editorial team consults:

Government & Institutional Research Bodies

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) — The largest scientific organisation in the world dedicated to mental health research, operated by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. NIMH publishes free, peer-reviewed findings on depression, anxiety, relationships, and behavioral health.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Mental Health (CDC) — The CDC’s mental health division provides publicly accessible data on the prevalence and impact of mental health conditions across populations in the United States.
• World Health Organization — Mental Health (WHO) — The WHO publishes global research and guidelines on mental health, relationships, and well-being, all freely accessible to the public.
• PubMed Central (PMC) — A free, full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences literature maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Many of the peer-reviewed studies referenced in our articles can be found and verified here.

Open-Access Psychology & Behavioral Science Journals

• Frontiers in Psychology — One of the largest and most widely cited open-access psychology journals in the world, publishing peer-reviewed research across clinical, social, and behavioral psychology.
• BMC Psychology — A fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal covering all areas of psychology and human behavior, including social, health, and relationship psychology.
• Health Psychology Open (SAGE) — An open-access journal indexed in PubMed Central, publishing peer-reviewed research at the intersection of psychology and physical health.
• American Psychological Association (APA) Journals — The APA is the leading scientific and professional organisation for psychology in the United States. Many of their journal abstracts and select full-text articles are publicly accessible.

Relationship & Social Science Research

• Google Scholar — A freely accessible search engine for scholarly literature, which we use to locate peer-reviewed studies on attachment theory, relationship dynamics, and behavioral psychology.
• PsyArXiv — A free preprint server for the psychological sciences, maintained by the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science. We use this to access emerging research before formal publication.

We encourage readers to explore these resources directly. If you would like to know the specific study or source behind a claim in any of our articles, please contact us and we will provide it.

Use of Public Stories, Social Media Content & Reddit

Relationship Rules sometimes draws on stories, experiences, and discussions that people have chosen to share openly with the public — including content posted on social media platforms and communities such as Reddit. We believe these real-world accounts are some of the most valuable sources of insight into how people actually experience relationships, and we treat them with care and respect.

Our Approach to Public Stories

When we reference or feature stories from public figures or individuals who have shared their experiences openly on the internet — through social media posts, public profiles, interviews, or other publicly accessible channels — we apply the following standards:

• We only use content that was shared publicly and voluntarily. We do not use private communications, direct messages, or content shared in closed or members-only groups.
• We provide full attribution. The original source, platform, and author are credited wherever possible.
• We link to the original. Where technically possible, we link directly to the original post or profile so readers can view the source in full context.
• We do not misrepresent. Stories are presented accurately and in context. We do not alter quotes or omit details in ways that change the meaning of what was shared.

Our Approach to Reddit Content

Reddit hosts millions of open discussions about relationships, mental health, and personal experiences. Many users share their stories publicly with the expectation that others will read and learn from them. When we reference Reddit content, we follow these guidelines:

• Full attribution to every account and user. We credit the Reddit username of the original poster and, where relevant, the subreddit in which it was shared.
• We link to the original thread. Readers are directed back to the source post so they can read the full discussion and context.
• We respect requests for removal. If a Reddit user contacts us to request that their content no longer be referenced on our site, we will honour that request promptly. Please use our Content Removal Request page.
• We do not use content from private subreddits or posts that were later deleted by the original author prior to our publication.
• We exercise editorial sensitivity. Reddit discussions involving trauma, mental health crises, or other sensitive personal disclosures are handled with particular care. We will not use such content in ways that could identify, embarrass, or harm the original poster.

A Note on Fair Use and Editorial Purpose

Our use of publicly shared content is grounded in editorial and educational purpose — to illustrate real human experiences and help our readers better understand relationships. We do not reproduce content in full where a summary or reference serves the same purpose. If you believe we have used your content in a way that is inaccurate, harmful, or that you did not intend to be public, please contact us or submit a removal request and we will respond within 5 business days.