This page explains our editorial process in detail. It is part of ElTocuyo.com's commitment to informational honesty: when we publish something, we want you to know how we verify it, which sources we rely on and what role technology plays in our work.
Editorial process
Every article on ElTocuyo.com goes through these stages:
- Documentary research. Selection of verifiable primary and secondary sources: Venezuelan academic bibliography, institutional archives, colonial sources, official records of the Venezuelan Institute of Cultural Heritage (IPC), Funvisis, the National Academy of History and regional press.
- Writing. The draft is written based on the selected sources. AI tools may assist in organizing the material, suggesting structure or improving wording —never as an autonomous author of the content.
- Cross-checking and verification. Every date, proper name and historical claim is checked against at least two independent sources. When a claim cannot be verified, it is labeled as "unverified" or omitted.
- Human editing. A team member reviews the text before publishing. Consistency, attributions, style and clarity are validated.
- Publication with complete metadata. Every article is published with a visible author, publication date and last-updated date.
- Maintenance. When we receive verifiable corrections, we update the article within 72 hours and refresh the revision date.
Main sources
These are the sources we consult most often. Each article also includes, at the end, the specific sources consulted for its writing.
Bibliography and historiography
- Lisandro Alvarado: Glossary of Venezuelan Indigenous Words (1921), History of the Federal Revolution in Venezuela, Ethnographic Data on Venezuela. Works by the universal Tocuyo native himself.
- Mario Briceño Iragorry: Tapices de Historia Patria, Casa León y su tiempo, with frequent references to El Tocuyo throughout his essays.
- Hermano Nectario María: Historia de la conquista y fundación de Caracas and other works on the Venezuelan colonial period.
- Pablo Ojer S.J.: La formación del oriente venezolano.
- Fundación Empresas Polar: Dictionary of Venezuelan History (digital and print editions).
Institutions
- National Academy of History of Venezuela
- Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis) — seismic data, including the 1950 earthquake.
- Venezuelan Institute of Cultural Heritage (IPC) — Catalog of Venezuelan Cultural Heritage, intangible heritage declarations (Tamunangue, May Cross Vigils).
- National Library of Venezuela and BiblioFEP (Febres Cordero Library).
- Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado (UCLA) — outreach publications and regional studies.
Digital sources
- Spanish Wikipedia — used as a starting point with mandatory cross-verification. Never as a sole source.
- Digital archives of Lara regional newspapers (El Impulso, La Prensa) when accessible.
AI usage policy
At ElTocuyo.com we take a clear and honest stance on AI, aligned with Google's public recommendations on AI content and the best practices of independent media:
What we DO with AI
- Use AI as a writing assistant (structure suggestions, style improvements, summaries).
- Generate illustrative reference images when no real historical images exist (e.g. portraits of 16th-century figures).
- Always label AI-generated images under the photo as "AI-generated illustrative image".
- Support fact verification by cross-checking what AI says against reliable human sources.
What we DON'T do with AI
- Publish AI-generated text without human review and editing.
- Present AI-generated illustrations as real documentary photographs.
- Invent sources, quotes, authors or statistics. If an AI suggests something unverifiable, we discard it.
- Generate industrial-scale content with no added value for the reader.
Image policy
For historical topics about El Tocuyo —founded in 1545— original documentary photographs do not exist in many cases. For those contexts we publish illustrative reference images (AI-generated or adapted from period engravings) clearly labeled under each picture.
Our commitment is to:
- Label every AI-generated image under the photo.
- Attribute every image taken from external archives (Wikimedia Commons, IPC, public archives) with its source and license.
- Progressively replace illustrations with original or licensed real photographs as the project grows.
If you have your own original photographs of El Tocuyo or the Morán Municipality and want to license their use to the site with visible credit, please write to us.
Corrections policy
We make mistakes, like any human publication. Our commitment is to:
- Receive corrections from any reader by email at info@eltocuyo.com or via the contact form.
- Verify the correction against independent sources before applying it.
- Publish the correction within 72 hours when appropriate.
- Update the visible revision date on the article.
- Keep a note at the end of the article if the correction changes a relevant fact.
Independence and funding
ElTocuyo.com is an independent editorial project. We have no political or institutional affiliation. We are funded through Google AdSense: ads appear clearly distinguished from editorial content and never influence what we choose to publish.
If we ever publish sponsored content —which we don't do yet— it would be visibly labeled as "Sponsored content".
Editorial contact
For corrections, suggestions, collaboration proposals or editorial questions, write to us at info@eltocuyo.com or use the contact form.
More about the project at About us. Also see our Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions.