A hotlink must:
These informal standards govern our choice of hotlinks from The Why Files to external sites:

1. Major Standard: The site must contribute to the discussion. Most do this by adding information and elaborating on scientific issues raised by the story. A few add a contrary viewpoint to the discussion. Even fewer are funny -- this keeps readers awake and induces them to return to us.
2. We reject sites that are: hateful, violent, stupid, seemingly libelous, excessively confusing, or on shaky scientific grounds.
3. We carry out "affirmative action" for sites developed by school or university classes. This gives a good role model for our classroom readers, even when the sites are not as polished as we might like.
4. We shy away from grossly commercial sites, unless the author contributed to the story, or the information is unavailable elsewhere.
5. Still, we can't verify the accuracy of information on external sites. These link are useful to readers, but they may lead to sophomoric, crass or otherwise questionable sites.

The Why Files home page.

caption