9 Golden Rules for an Outstanding Publication

1. Assessing the impact of companies is complex as they engage in a multitude of activities.

2. It is important to break down each of the relevant and persistent impacts of businesses into single topics while avoiding covering small, peripheral or too broad topics (more details on how to avoid writing about multiple topics).

👉 For key examples and insights, check the full article Golden Rule #1: Find the right level of granularity.

1. Analyse the tangible impact, as opposed to intentions, commitments, promises, or future goals.

2. The analysis must be about the output or the tangible impact of the company.

👉 Concrete examples and best practices can be found in Golden Rule #2: Impact ≠ Intentions or future goals.

1. Ethic assessment involves evaluating the right and wrong behaviours and practices, but Impaakt tries to analyse the impact of these practices.

2. To move from an ethical assessment to an impact assessment, you will need to analyse the consequences of good or bad ethics and describe what was the loss/benefit, who suffered/benefited and how much positive/negative impact has been caused.

👉 Looking at real examples will help you master this rule! Make sure to read Golden Rule #3: Differentiate ethics from impact.

1. Corporate sustainability reports can be misleading and overlook the most important topics.

2. You can use companies’ CSR reports; however, you should use other sources to complement, and most importantly, use critical judgement.

3. Analyses that only extract data from these reports without adding value will be automatically rejected.

👉 We outlined some examples of CSR topics that are either misleading or relevant for an impact analysis in Golden Rule #4: Go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

1. Remediation is the "act of correcting an error or stopping something bad from happening".

2. Remediation can only be addressed once the broader issue has been discussed.

3. Compare the impact data against the industry average or benchmarked against the company’s main competitors.

👉 Covering remediation efforts is the most common pitfall of new analysts. For this reason, we highly recommend reading through Golden Rule #5: Go beyond remediation.

1. It can be tempting to write an article about a lawsuit, an accusation or an assumption about a company, but this does not solely qualify as impact.

2. You must stick to proven facts only to illustrate a broader issue, and stay away from company bashing/glorifying.

3. For lawsuits, take on the topic only if a clear ruling has been established.

👉 We uncover why this is a problem, and how you can overcome it in Golden Rule #6: Avoid allegations or assumptions.

1. It is essential to synthesize, put in perspective and challenge the data you put together.

2. Adding value means adding style, analytical flow and nuance to the various pieces of information you found in your research.

3. Simply listing figures and facts from company reports is not sufficient to be published.


👉 All the details of this rule can be found in Golden Rule #7: Add value to your readers.

1. All analyses must contain sources that are in English, relevant in the publication date, trustworthy, and open-sourced.

2. Non-English sources are accepted, provided they can be read in English (using a translator tool).

3. These sources need to be present in the analysis to substantiate all statements through in-text citations.

4. Analyses that do not contain sources will be rejected automatically.

👉 Read the full article, Golden Rule #8: No sources, no worth.

1. All analyses need to flow smoothly, contain correct English grammar and be typo-free.

2. Free online tools such as DeepL and Grammarly can help you correct these mistakes, although you must always proof-read your analyses before submitting them.

3. Analyses that contain too many grammatical mistakes and typos will be automatically rejected.

👉 Make sure to go through all the details by checking Golden Rule #9: Grammar and style matter.