We’re a distributed group and we publish work from people we haven’t met. Here’s how it works.
What we’re looking for
- Original investigations built on documents, records, or imagery.
- Verification of claims currently circulating widely, in either direction.
- Persian-language sourcing that English-language outlets are missing.
- Method guides — how you did something, in enough detail that someone else can repeat it.
- Datasets, with documentation.
We’re not looking for opinion pieces, personal essays, predictions, or summaries of other people’s reporting.
The standard
One rule above all others: claims may not outrun their sources. A well-written piece that overstates its evidence is more damaging to this project than no piece at all, because everything we publish is read by people looking for a reason to dismiss it.
Read the editorial standards before you pitch. Every submission is checked against them.
How to pitch
Email contribute@samiei.co.uk with:
- The specific factual claim you want to test or establish, in one sentence.
- What evidence you already hold.
- What you still need.
- Whether you want to publish under your name or a pseudonym.
Pitch before you write. We’d rather tell you at 200 words than at 4,000 that the evidence won’t carry the conclusion.
Working with us
New contributors start with submission rights and no publishing rights — everything goes through an editor. That isn’t about trust, it’s how the whole publication stays defensible. After several published pieces you’ll be moved to a standing byline, still with editorial review.
Every submission needs an evidence pack: archived links, screenshots with timestamps, document copies, and your geolocation or verification working. If it isn’t in the pack, it doesn’t go in the article.
Pseudonyms and safety
You can publish under a pseudonym without giving a reason. An editor will know who you are; nobody else needs to. We keep that record offline and encrypted.
If you’re in Iran, or you have close family there, tell us before you do anything else. We’ll work with you in a way that doesn’t create a record linking you to us, and we won’t give you an account on this website.
We don’t ask anyone to take a risk to get a story. If getting the material puts you in danger, don’t get the material.
Payment
[Be honest here. If it’s unpaid, say so plainly and say whether that will change. Volunteers who feel misled leave, and they leave loudly.]