Writing policy
Mimir is a shared map of knowledge. A note is not a diary entry — it is a node other people will link to, build on, and trust. These six rules are what keep that trust intact.
They are binding in global spaces. In your own public or private spaces they are strongly recommended, not enforced — but notes that follow them are the ones others trust, link to, and build on.
1. You are responsible for every word you publish
Use AI to research a topic, translate, or tidy your own draft. Do not use it to write your note for you. Whatever you submit, you answer for — so read it, check it, and understand it before it goes in.
A note is removed when it shows the marks of unchecked machine output: sources that do not exist, claims its own citation does not support, padding that says nothing, or leftover assistant phrasing. We judge the note, not the tool.
2. Everything must be verifiable
Every published note carries at least one source. Any claim that is not common knowledge gets a citation where the claim is made.
Sources may be paywalled, offline, or in another language — the test is that a determined reader can check them, not that they are free. Prefer primary and secondary sources over summaries of summaries.
Applied strictly to living people: an unsourced contentious claim about a real, identifiable person is removed immediately, without waiting for discussion.
3. Write from a neutral point of view
Describe what is known and who holds which view, in proportion to how widely it is held. Do not argue, sell, or persuade. When credible sources disagree, say so and cite both.
4. No promotion, no hidden stake
Do not write about your own product, employer, or yourself in order to promote it. If you have a stake in the subject, say so in the note. Advertising is removed on sight.
5. Summarize what is known. Label what is yours
Do not present new analysis or synthesis as established fact. First-hand and practitioner knowledge is welcome — mark it plainly as experience ("in practice…", "in my experience…") and never dress it up as consensus.
Labelling your experience does not exempt the note from rule 2. The claims around it still need sources.
6. Write it yourself
Never paste text you did not write. Citing a source does not give you the right to copy it, and close paraphrase is still copying. Quote briefly, in quotation marks, with attribution.
This is also why you cannot import text from Wikipedia or other share-alike sources, even with attribution: their license would attach to the note and to everything built on it.
Removed on sight
- Fabricated citations — a source that does not exist, or does not say what the note claims
- Advertising
- Text copied from somewhere else
- Unsourced contentious claims about a living person
- Leftover assistant phrasing ("as a large language model", "up to my last training update")
What happens if a note breaks a rule
A reviewer returns it with a reason pointing at the rule it missed. Fix it and resubmit — most notes come back once, and that is normal.
A returned note earns no aura, and a note declined after earning gives it back. Repeatedly submitting work that breaks these rules costs the account, not just the note.
Judgment over letter
These rules exist to protect what makes the graph worth reading. They are not a rulebook to be applied mechanically. If following a rule to the letter would make a note worse, the rule has failed, not the note — say so in review, and the exception gets made. The spirit matters more than the wording.
Two things are not negotiable, because they carry consequences beyond quality: never publish text you do not have the right to publish, and never make an unsourced contentious claim about a real person. Everything on the removal list stays absolute.
How this policy is made
It is shaped by the people who use it. Anyone can propose a change and the Mimir team reviews it, the same way a reviewer reviews a note. Global spaces require approval on every edit, so this note is not directly editable — including by the people it governs.