Corrections & flagging

The book and the catalogue work because the numbers are right. If a number on this site is wrong, the project wants to know — quickly, clearly, with the source it should be corrected against. This page explains how to flag, what happens after you flag, and how flags from official institutional addresses are routed.

How to flag

Every paradox page, every chart page, and every infographic carries a “Flag a fact or figure” link near the source footer. Clicking it opens your email client with a prefilled message — page URL, specific context, structured prompts for what you believe is incorrect and the source you’re correcting against. Fill in the gaps. Send.

The destination is hello@bht99.com — the same address that routes press, editorial, and operational mail.

You can also flag without using the links — just send an email to the same address with “Flag:” in the subject line and a description of the issue. The smart-prefilled links are convenience; the underlying mechanism is the inbox.

What happens after you flag

A flag goes through three stages:

1. Acknowledgement — A reply within one working week confirming the flag was received and indicating the queue position.
2. Verification — The flagged figure is checked against the source you provided plus the original source it was drawn from. If both agree, the figure is corrected.
3. Publication — The correction lands in two places. First, the affected page is updated, with the previous figure preserved in a dated <del> block for transparency. Second, a dated entry appears in the updates log summarising the correction, the source, and the institutional acknowledgment.

The full cycle typically runs 2–4 weeks. Genuinely time-sensitive corrections (a figure that’s about to be quoted in a publication, for example) can be escalated by saying so in the email.

Institutional priority routing

Flags from official institutional email addresses route on a priority queue. The mechanism is automatic and cryptographic — there is no separate verification flow you need to complete.

When an email arrives at hello@bht99.com, its sending domain is verified via DKIM (the standard email-authentication signature). A message from someone@rma.org.bt carries cryptographic proof that it originated from an account with rma.org.bt’s mail infrastructure. Spoofing requires breaking the institution’s domain key — not a casual attack.

The institutional taxonomy:

Tier 1 — Original-source institutions

Direct stewards of the data the book cites. Flags route to the top of the queue and get a same-day acknowledgement.

• rma.org.bt — Royal Monetary Authority (the source for every monetary figure in the book)
• nsb.gov.bt — National Statistics Bureau (the source for census, TFR, population, demographic data)
• bhutanaudit.gov.bt — Royal Audit Authority (the source for audit irregularities figures)
• mof.gov.bt — Ministry of Finance (the source for budget, debt, fiscal figures)
• moh.gov.bt — Ministry of Health (the source for healthcare data)
• moesd.gov.bt — Ministry of Education and Skills Development (the source for education figures)
• moenr.gov.bt — Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (the source for hydropower, tariff figures)
• acc.org.bt — Anti-Corruption Commission (the source for NIA + integrity figures)
• dgpc.bt, bpc.bt, phpa.gov.bt — energy-sector operating companies
• bhutanstudies.org.bt — Centre for Bhutan Studies (the source for GNH measurement)

Tier 2 — Verified institutional addresses

Other recognised institutions whose work is referenced in the book. Same-week acknowledgement, structured response.

• Any *.gov.bt address not in Tier 1
• Multilateral institutions cited in the book — worldbank.org, imf.org, adb.org, un.org, ilo.org
• Indian counterpart institutions where directly relevant — rbi.org.in for currency-peg questions
• Bhutanese press — kuenselonline.com, thebhutanese.bt, bbs.bt
• Bhutanese academic institutions — rub.edu.bt, cst.edu.bt, sherubtse.edu.bt

Tier 3 — Open queue

Every other flag. Read in order, acknowledged within a working week. Anonymous and pseudonymous flags are first-class — the structural-diagnosis tradition does not depend on identifying the source of a correction; it depends on whether the source you cite is verifiable.

What flags do and don’t do

Flags do:

• Correct factual errors with verifiable sources
• Update figures when an institution publishes a revised data series
• Surface a primary-source citation that’s stronger than the secondary one currently used
• Add nuance to a quote where the original speaker is the corrector

Flags do not:

• Suppress a position the book takes. The book’s interpretive positions stand whether or not an institution disagrees with them; the corrections process touches verifiable facts, not editorial framing.
• Anonymise quotes that are already on the public record. A statement made in parliament or in an official press release stays in the text.
• Override the editorial process. Corrections happen because the source you cite is verifiable, not because of who you are. Tier 1 institutional flags get priority routing, not editorial veto.

Public acknowledgment

Corrections are acknowledged in the updates log by default. Three acknowledgment levels:

• Named — institution or individual name, with a link to the source you provided
• Pseudonymous — your chosen pseudonym, no real-name linkage
• Anonymous — no acknowledgment at all; only the corrected figure and the public source appear in the log

Specify your preference in the flag email. Default is named-with-source for Tier 1 + Tier 2 institutional addresses; anonymous-by-default for Tier 3 unless you opt in.

Why this matters

Open-access publication has a structural advantage over paywalled scholarship: the corrections layer can be visible, fast, and machine-readable. The book is built so its data layer is auditable. The corrections process is the auditing surface.

A wrong number in the book is, eventually, a wrong number in someone else’s policy memo, a wrong number in someone else’s research report, a wrong number in the country-strategy document of a multilateral. The corrections cycle is what keeps that propagation from running unchecked.