Questions
What people ask about SourceRead
Plain answers about how articles are scored, what the Perspective Engine actually measures, and how reading, privacy and access work. If something is missing here, it is probably worth asking a curator.
What SourceRead is
- What is SourceRead?
- SourceRead is a reading platform that merges the articles, podcasts and videos you follow into one calm stream, then scores each piece for perspective and transparency before you read it. It replaces a scattered mix of RSS readers, newsletters and social feeds with a single daily brief you can finish.
- Who is SourceRead for?
- Researchers, analysts, journalists, policy staff and executives who read to make decisions rather than to pass time. It suits anyone who needs to know how strongly a piece is framed, what evidence it rests on, and which angles are missing before citing it.
- How is SourceRead different from an RSS reader like Feedly or Inoreader?
- A traditional RSS reader delivers a queue of unranked headlines. SourceRead adds three things a reader does not have: a Perspective Engine that scores every article across six transparency dimensions, a public evaluation ledger that shows how accurate those scores are, and human-curated shelves you can follow instead of raw feeds.
- How is SourceRead different from Ground News or AllSides?
- Ground News and AllSides classify outlets on a left-to-right political axis. SourceRead scores the individual article, not the outlet, across six dimensions — evidence density, framing strength, source diversity, claim hedging, emotional charge and context depth — and publishes the accuracy of its own scoring in a public ledger.
- Is SourceRead a social network?
- Only in a deliberate sense. You can follow curators and their shelves, and share a shelf or an article publicly, but there is no infinite scroll, no algorithmic timeline, no like counter and no engagement-optimised ranking.
The Perspective Engine
- What is the Perspective Engine?
- The Perspective Engine is SourceRead's scoring system. It reads the full text of an article and rates it across six dimensions — evidence density, framing strength, source diversity, claim hedging, emotional charge and context depth — then shows the reasoning behind each score in a 'Show your work' panel attached to the article.
- How does SourceRead score an article for bias?
- It analyses the article text itself: which claims are attributed to named sources, how strongly the framing steers the reader, whether counter-positions appear, and how much hedging language the author uses. Scores are shown with the specific passages that produced them, so you can disagree with the machine and see exactly where.
- Can I see why an article received its score?
- Yes. Every scored article has a 'Show your work' panel listing each dimension, its value, the model's confidence, and the reasoning. Nothing is scored behind a closed door.
- How accurate is the Perspective Engine?
- Accuracy is measured against the Golden Set, a growing collection of articles scored by human curators. The mean absolute error between machine and human scores is published on the public Ledger page and re-checked on every model change; a regression gate blocks any change that makes the error worse.
- What is the Golden Set?
- The Golden Set is SourceRead's human-labelled benchmark: articles scored by curators across all six dimensions, used to measure and regression-test the Perspective Engine. It is the platform's core asset, and its size and current error rate are reported openly on the Ledger.
- What is the Verity Ledger?
- The Ledger is a public transparency dashboard showing how the Perspective Engine is performing — Golden Set size, current scoring error, evaluation history and platform growth. It exists so that claims about accuracy can be checked rather than trusted.
Reading, briefs and offline
- Can I read full articles inside SourceRead?
- Yes. Articles open in SourceRead's own reader with the full text, the Perspective score and translation available on the same page, so you are not opening a new browser tab for every item. The original source link is always kept one click away.
- What is the Morning Brief?
- The Morning Brief is a short daily digest built from your chosen topics: a handful of articles worth your attention, each with its Perspective score and a one-line reason it was selected. It is finite by design — when you reach the end, you are done.
- Does SourceRead work offline?
- Yes. SourceRead installs as a progressive web app on phone, tablet and desktop, and saved articles remain readable without a connection.
- Can I export what I read?
- Yes. Any article exports as Markdown with its full text, front matter and Perspective score table, and your whole library exports in one file. Both open directly in Obsidian, Notion or a word processor, and print to PDF from there.
- Does SourceRead support other languages?
- The interface is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, including right-to-left layout, and individual articles can be translated on demand inside the reader.
- Is there an infinite scroll or a notification stream?
- No. Both are excluded on purpose. Feeds are finite, briefs end, and the platform never uses engagement mechanics to extend a session.
Access, privacy and pricing
- How do I join SourceRead?
- SourceRead is invite-based. An existing member shares an invitation link, and you sign in with a six-digit code sent to your email address — there is no password to manage.
- How much does SourceRead cost?
- Reading is free for members. A paid membership unlocks the fuller archive, higher translation and scoring limits and curator tools. Pricing is shown on the membership page inside the app.
- Does SourceRead track me or show advertising?
- No. There is no advertising, no behavioural ad tracking and no selling of reading history. The business model is membership, which is why the feed is not optimised for time-on-site.
- Is my reading history private?
- Yes. Your library, queue and reading progress are visible only to you. The only things that become public are the shelves you deliberately choose to publish.
- Can I share a reading list publicly?
- Yes. A shelf is a public, linkable reading list with its own page and RSS feed, so you can send it to colleagues or publish it without them needing an account to read it.