Editorial Policy

Last updated: June 2026

1. Editorial Independence

PawCritic maintains complete editorial independence. Our reviews, ratings, and recommendations are based solely on our testing and research. We do not:

  • Accept payment or gifts in exchange for positive reviews
  • Allow manufacturers to review or approve content before publication
  • Guarantee favorable placement or ratings to any brand
  • Accept free products without clear disclosure (we prefer to purchase ourselves)

2. How We Fund Our Work

PawCritic generates revenue through affiliate commissions. When you click a link to a retailer (such as Amazon) and make a purchase, we may earn a small percentage of the sale — at no additional cost to you.

We participate in the following affiliate programs:

  • Amazon Services LLC Associates Program

Affiliate relationships never influence our reviews or ratings. Products are selected for review based on quality and relevance, not commission rates. We disclose our affiliate relationship on every page containing affiliate links.

3. Review Selection Criteria

We select products for review based on:

  • Popularity: Products that are widely used and frequently searched for
  • Innovation: Products that introduce meaningful new features or technology
  • Reader Requests: Products our community asks us to evaluate
  • Category Gaps: Product categories where we identify a need for trustworthy information

4. Rating Scale

Every product receives a rating from 1 to 5 stars based on weighted scores across five dimensions (see How We Test for details):

  • ★★★★★ Excellent: Best-in-class performance, exceptional value. Highly recommended.
  • ★★★★☆ Very Good: Strong performer with minor drawbacks. Recommended.
  • ★★★☆☆ Decent: A solid choice, but better alternatives may exist at similar price points.
  • ★★☆☆☆ Mediocre: Has significant flaws or is overpriced relative to performance.
  • ★☆☆☆☆ Poor: We cannot recommend it. Either unsafe, unreliable, or poor value.

5. Corrections Policy

We strive for accuracy in every article. If you believe we've made an error:

  1. Contact us at hello@pawcritic.com with the article URL and a description of the issue.
  2. Our editorial team reviews all correction requests within 48 hours.
  3. Verified errors are corrected immediately. Significant corrections are noted at the top of the article with the date of revision.
  4. If a correction changes the substance of a review (e.g., a recalled product), we add a prominent notice and may update the rating.

6. Product Recalls

If a product we've reviewed is subject to a safety recall, we will:

  • Add a prominent recall notice at the top of the review
  • Remove all purchase links until the safety issue is resolved
  • Update the review if/when a revised version of the product is released

7. Reader Feedback

Your experience matters. If you've used a product we reviewed and had a different experience — better or worse — we want to hear about it. Reader feedback helps us identify products that perform differently in the long run versus initial testing, and we may update our reviews to reflect emerging patterns.

8. Affiliate Disclaimer

Disclosure: PawCritic is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay or the products we choose to review.