This document governs the format, voice, and editorial conventions of the Human Xenobiological Field Guide. All contributors are expected to follow these standards. Deviations are permitted where the editorial board determines that the material requires it, and are noted in the text.
Institutional human voice. The HXFG is written for human readers by human contributors. The compiled voice is clinical, professional, and informative - the voice of a government reference document written by people who care about accuracy and have opinions they mostly keep in check.
Human perspective throughout. Earth analogies are used freely and without apology. Federation terminology appears but is always glossed in human-comprehensible terms. We do not write for a universal audience. We write for us. Non-human readers who access this document understand that they are reading a human document and adjust accordingly.
Multiple contributor voices. The institutional voice is a composite. Individual contributors' perspectives are preserved in clearly attributed sections:
No omniscience. The HXFG documents what human researchers have observed, interpreted, and been told. Where our understanding is incomplete, we say so. Where experts disagree, we present the disagreement. The HXFG does not pretend to have the final word on anything.
All species entries follow the standard section order. Sections may be omitted where not applicable, but the order of included sections should not change.
#) - Major sections (BIOLOGY, HOW THEY THINK, etc.). Rendered uppercase.##) - Subsections within major sections.###) - Sub-subsections. Rendered in italic serif.The following HTML blocks are available for use within markdown content. See the theme reference for CSS class details.
.hxfg-entry-header - Entry title banner..hxfg-classification - Standardized registry data block..hxfg-quickref - Quick reference summary box..hxfg-warning - Practical advisories and interspecies cautions..hxfg-editorial - Editorial board notes and disputed-claim markers..hxfg-contributor-note - Attributed contributor observations (alternative to blockquote format)..hxfg-doc-footer - Entry metadata and credits..hxfg-meta - General metadata blocks.Inline editorial comments use blockquote format with bold [Ed.] prefix:
[Ed.] This characterization has been disputed. See Supplementary Volume 12 for the dissenting view.
Personal observations use blockquote format with em-dash attribution:
The first morning on Regez, the substrate garden was the first thing they built for us.
- J. Achebe, field xenology, University of New Lagos, Year 22 PR
Standard markdown links using the HXFG path structure:
[Species #007: Ansale'wit](/species/7)[Contributor: A. Carver](/contributors)[Supplementary Volume 9](/supplementary)References to entries that do not yet exist should still be linked. The link serves as documentation of intended scope.
The HXFG does not arbitrate scientific or philosophical disputes among its contributors. Where qualified experts disagree:
[Ed.] block.This policy exists because the HXFG is a reference document, not a journal. Its purpose is to inform, not to adjudicate. Contributors who wish to argue for a position may do so in supplementary volumes, which are subject to peer review but not to the editorial board's neutrality requirements.
All published HXFG entries carry an access classification:
The public HXFG contains only PUBLIC-classified material. Restricted and classified supplementary materials are referenced where relevant but their content is not reproduced.
Entries are revised on a rolling basis as new research, field data, or editorial review warrants. Each entry's document footer records its most recent revision date and the contributors responsible for the current version. Major revisions are noted in the editorial record. Minor corrections (factual updates, style conformance, typographic fixes) are applied without annotation.