Version 2.1 — current
The Christian Book Integrity Standard
Published in full. Anyone in any country may read it, cite it, and apply it internally at no charge. Every requirement has a stable anchor.
Version 2.1 — Published Specification
Date: September 4, 2026
1. Purpose
The Christian Book Integrity Standard defines what it means for a Christian book to be honestly represented in the AI era. It exists so that a reader can know who actually wrote a book, whether a real and accountable person stands behind it, how artificial intelligence was used in producing it, and whether its sources, quotations, credentials, and endorsements are authentic.
This Standard defines Christian eligibility and certifies integrity. It does not rate theology. To be certified, the accountable party must sign the Statement of Christian Belief in Appendix H and identify the work as a Christian work. Christian Book Standard then verifies authorship accountability, AI disclosure, source integrity, credentials, endorsements, and editorial completeness.
Certification does not mean Christian Book Standard endorses the theological conclusions of a book, and it does not adjudicate doctrinal differences among historic Christian traditions. Any of them — Baptist, Reformed, Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Wesleyan, Anabaptist, Anglican, non-denominational — can hold books to this standard without conceding anything on the questions that divide them.
The distinction that governs the whole document: eligibility is a claim the accountable party makes and signs. Integrity is a set of facts Christian Book Standard checks. The Standard verifies that the claim was made under a verified identity and that the facts are as represented. It does not decide whose theology is right.
Governing principle: Every certified book has an accountable human being behind it. The Standard does not attempt to prove that no AI was ever used or that every statement in a book is true. It establishes reasonable assurance under a published process: a real person accepts responsibility for the work, relevant production choices are disclosed, defined integrity checks are completed, and the public record shows what was actually verified, sampled, self-reported, or not evaluated.
2. Scope
This Standard applies to Christian books published in English, in any country: books marketed to Christian readers or on Christian subjects, in any format (print, ebook, audiobook), from any publisher or self-publisher, wherever published. Editions in other languages will be covered by future versions of the Standard; an English edition of a work originally written in another language is in scope and is handled under Section 13.2. The initial standard is written for nonfiction, theology, Bible study, devotional, and Christian living titles. Fiction, children’s books, and curriculum may be submitted under v1.0 but are handled under the same rules without genre-specific provisions; genre-specific provisions are reserved for a later version.
A certification attaches to a specific edition (ISBN or equivalent identifier). A revised edition with substantive content changes is a new submission. Rules for multi-author works, edited volumes, translations, and revised editions are in Section 13.
2.1 Eligibility Scope
In scope: works presented as Christian — written from within the Christian faith for Christian readers, or on Christian subjects for a Christian readership.
Out of scope: works whose stated purpose is to refute or oppose Christian faith. Scope is determined from the submitter’s own declaration and the work’s own presentation. It is not a judgment of the work’s theology, quality, or worth, and it is not a statement about the author. A scope determination may be appealed under Section 17.
Serious engagement with objections to Christian faith — apologetics, church history that documents failure, scholarship, memoir that records doubt — is in scope. The out-of-scope rule is narrow and applies to purpose, not subject matter.
3. Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Accountable author | A real, identifiable human being who has signed the Author Attestation and accepts responsibility for the content of the work. |
| Pen name | A publishing name that differs from the author’s legal name. Permitted, provided the accountable author’s identity is verified by Christian Book Standard and held on record. The registry displays the pen name and notes that the author’s identity has been verified. |
| Human-written | The substantive final prose was written by the accountable author. AI may have been used for brainstorming, research assistance, editing/refining human-created text, proofreading, error-checking, formatting, or similar assistance without originating substantive final passages. |
| AI-assisted | The accountable author created the underlying content and AI materially transformed, reorganized, or refined human-created material. AI may have produced working drafts or suggestions, but no substantive final passage in the published edition originated in AI. The roles are disclosed. Retailer definitions may classify some uses differently; the retailer disclosure is recorded separately where relevant. |
| AI-generated | AI originated substantive text, images, or translation content that appears in the published edition, even if a human later edited it. The accountable author directed/reviewed the work and accepts responsibility. The type and approximate extent are disclosed. |
| Fabricated | Any author identity, credential, endorsement, citation, quotation, statistic, or source that does not exist or does not say what the work claims it says. |
| Registry record | The permanent public entry for an edition at christianbookstandard.org, identified by a CBR record number. |
| Certified | An edition evaluated under a named version of the Standard and found to meet every mandatory requirement under the published audit procedure. |
| Publisher Verified | An edition published by an imprint on the recognized publisher list, entered in the registry from published catalog records. The imprint has been verified against the criteria in Appendix G. The edition itself has not been submitted or evaluated. Publisher Verified is not Certified. |
| Accountable party | The real, identifiable human being or responsible corporate party that signs the Author Attestation and the Eligibility Affirmation and accepts responsibility for the edition. For a living author this is the author. For posthumous editions, edited collections, institutional works, and historic reprints, it is the publisher or responsible editor under Section 13. |
| Eligibility Affirmation | The six-point Statement of Christian Belief in Appendix H, signed by the accountable party. Required for certification. |
| Recognized publisher | An imprint on the published recognized publisher list, admitted against the criteria in Appendix G. Recognition is of the imprint, never of any particular book. |
4. Requirements
Requirements are grouped in eight domains. Each requirement is marked M (mandatory — must be met for certification) or D (disclosed — must be answered truthfully and is shown in the record, but the answer itself does not cause a failure).
Section 4.0 is a precondition. If it is not met, no certification is issued and no further domain is assessed.
4.0 Christian Eligibility
This domain is a gate, not an evaluation. Christian Book Standard does not read a book to decide whether its theology is sound. It requires the accountable party to make a defined public statement, under a verified identity, and it records that the statement was made.
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| C1 | The work is within the eligibility scope defined in Section 2.1, as declared by the submitter and as the work presents itself. | M |
| C2 | The accountable party has signed the Eligibility Affirmation in Appendix H, affirming the Statement of Christian Belief in Appendix H and declaring the work to be a Christian work. The signature is attached to an identity verified under Section 14. | M |
| C3 | The accountable party has recorded a tradition self-description from the published list, or has used the free-text option. The value is displayed as self-reported and is never ranked, annotated, or evaluated. | M |
C2 is affirmed as content, not as subscription to a creed as a binding document, so that non-creedal orthodox traditions are not excluded on procedure. The six statements in Appendix H are the operative text. Christian Book Standard does not verify what any person believes. It verifies who signed, and it holds the signer to what they signed. A false affirmation is a misrepresentation under Section 8 and is handled as such.
C3 is required so that the field is reliably populated for reader fit. Requiring the field is not the same as evaluating it. Christian Book Standard assigns no theological label, publishes no list of excluded or disfavored traditions, and makes no statement about any tradition’s standing. Works whose accountable party does not sign C2 are simply not certified.
4.1 Authorship and Accountability
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | A named human author (or, for multi-author works, each named author) is a real, identifiable person whose identity has been verified by Christian Book Standard. | M |
| A2 | The accountable author has signed the Author Attestation for this edition. | M |
| A3 | If a pen name is used, the accountable author’s legal identity is verified and held confidentially on record; the listing notes “pen name — identity verified.” | M |
| A4 | Ghostwritten works name the accountable author who directed the work and accepts responsibility; the use of a ghostwriter is disclosed in the record. | D |
| A5 | The author’s stated credentials (degrees, ordination, positions, affiliations) are accurate and verifiable, or are not claimed. | M |
| A6 | The author bio contains no fabricated biography, invented institutions, or false claims of association. | M |
4.2 AI Transparency
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | The author has completed the AI Use Disclosure for this edition, including separate disclosures for text, images/cover, translation, and narration where applicable. | M |
| T2 | The disclosure is truthful to the best of the author’s knowledge. Any AI disclosure made to a retailer/distributor is also reported; differences caused by differing platform definitions are explained rather than forced into artificial consistency. | M |
| T3 | The specific roles AI played (brainstorming, research assistance, outlining, editing/refining, drafting, translation, fact-checking, image/cover generation, narration, none) and approximate extent are listed in the record. | D |
| T4 | If AI originated substantive final text, images, or translation content, the public record carries an “AI-generated content disclosed — human accountable” notation and identifies the content type(s). | M |
| T5 | The accountable author confirms that all AI output included in the published edition was reviewed and accepted by a responsible human before publication. | M |
The Standard does not fail a book merely for using AI. It fails misrepresentation and integrity failures. Detection tools may be used as screening signals but do not prove authorship. Classification is based primarily on author disclosure and process evidence; no title is failed on an AI-detector score alone.
4.3 Scripture and Source Integrity
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| S1 | Scripture quotations match the named translation, and the translation is identified. Paraphrases are labeled as paraphrases. | M |
| S2 | Every citation, footnote, and bibliography entry refers to a real, locatable source. | M |
| S3 | Quoted material says what the work claims it says, in context, and is attributed to its actual author. | M |
| S4 | Statistics and factual claims presented as sourced have a real source; unsourced claims are not presented as sourced. | M |
| S5 | Historical figures, church fathers, and theologians are not given fabricated quotations. | M |
| S6 | The audit sampled N citations and N Scripture references; the sample size and result are shown in the record. | D |
4.4 Endorsements and Reviews
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| E1 | Every printed endorsement or blurb is from a real person who gave it for this work. | M |
| E2 | Endorsers’ titles and affiliations are accurate. | M |
| E3 | No fabricated reviews, no reviews purchased from review-selling services, and no undisclosed incentivized reviews have been arranged for the work. Disclosed review programs may provide a free copy or a reviewer/member discount when the benefit is not conditioned on positive sentiment. A retailer-platform review may not be required, rewarded, or tracked as a condition of the benefit. | M |
| E4 | The author attests that no reviewer has been required, asked, or paid to give a favorable review and that any material review benefit arranged for the work is disclosed where the review is published. | M |
4.5 Publisher and Rights
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | The publisher or imprint is identified, and a responsible contact exists. | M |
| P2 | The work is not a copy, close paraphrase, or repackaging of another author’s work, and does not reproduce copyrighted material beyond fair use without permission. | M |
| P3 | The title, cover, and author presentation do not imitate another author or work in a manner likely to deceive readers. | M |
| P4 | The edition carries a valid ISBN (or equivalent identifier for the format) that matches the registry record. | M |
4.6 Reader Disclosures
These are informational labels shown in the record. They are never a pass/fail condition and never a judgment.
| ID | Disclosure | Type |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | Content advisory (e.g., mature themes, violence, abuse narrative) as declared by the author. | D |
| R2 | Tradition or stance, as self-described by the author (e.g., Reformed, Wesleyan, Catholic, Orthodox, non-denominational evangelical, mainline). Displayed only if the author elects to declare it. | D |
| R3 | Intended audience (general, academic, pastoral, children/youth). | D |
R2 is deliberately opt-in and self-described. Christian Book Standard does not assign theological labels, grade orthodoxy, or place a book on a conservative-to-liberal scale. Tradition labels exist so readers can find what they are looking for, not so the standard can approve or disapprove of it.
4.7 Evidence and Record Integrity
Certification must communicate the strength of each public claim, not merely a green/red result. The record distinguishes independent verification from author/publisher disclosure and from fields not evaluated.
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| V1 | Every substantive public field is labeled or presented consistently as Verified, Self-reported, Not evaluated, or Unable to verify. | M |
| V2 | No mandatory requirement is failed solely because of an automated detector, classifier, similarity score, or other machine output. A human reviewer applies the requirement and records the basis. | M |
| V3 | Where source/Scripture/quotation checks are sampled, the sample size, escalation rule, and result are published. | M |
| V4 | Material corrections, revocations, and certification-status changes are dated in the record history; prior public status is not silently overwritten. | M |
| V5 | Public language states that certification is reasonable assurance under the published audit procedure, not a guarantee of theological truth, literary quality, or error-free content. | M |
4.8 Editorial Completeness
A narrow, objective defect check. It exists because a book can disclose its AI use honestly and still be unfinished machine output. It is not an assessment of writing quality, argument, style, or usefulness, and no requirement here may be applied as a quality judgment.
| ID | Requirement | Type |
|---|---|---|
| F1 | The edition contains no unresolved AI prompts, placeholder text, instruction fragments, or model artifacts left in the published text. | M |
| F2 | The edition contains no substantial duplicated or repeated passages indicating unreviewed machine generation. | M |
| F3 | Footnotes, endnotes, and cross-references resolve; there are no broken, empty, or nonsensical note structures. | M |
| F4 | No chapter or section is materially incomplete, truncated, or malformed. | M |
| F5 | The accountable party confirms that the complete final manuscript was read and approved by a responsible human before publication. | M |
F1 through F4 are checked against the submitted final files and are objectively determinable. F5 is an attestation. Nothing in this domain evaluates prose quality; a plainly written book with none of these defects meets the domain, and a well-written book with them does not.
5. Registry Status Levels
The registry must never imply that a book has been evaluated when it has not. Two public statuses exist, plus one process state:
| Status | Meaning | How it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Certified | Evaluated under a named version of the Standard; all mandatory requirements met, including the Eligibility Affirmation. | “Registry status: Certified — Christian Book Integrity Standard [version]. Certified [date].” |
| Publisher Verified | Published by an imprint on the recognized publisher list. The imprint was verified against Appendix G; this edition was not individually submitted or evaluated. | “Registry status: Publisher Verified. This edition has not been individually submitted for certification.” |
| Submitted | Attestations and disclosures received; audit in progress or pending. | “Registry status: Submitted. Certification: Pending review.” |
Two further outcomes exist and are shown only to the submitter, never publicly: Not Certified (one or more mandatory requirements not met; reasons provided) and Withdrawn (submitter withdrew before completion). There is no submitter election to display either outcome; a submitter who wants to demonstrate progress corrects the deficiencies and resubmits. A public listing of “Not certified” is never displayed for any title, and public copy must state that absence from the registry does not mean a book failed; it may never have been submitted.
A separate Revoked state applies to a previously certified edition under Section 8 and is displayed publicly.
5.0 Equal Standing, Different Scope
Certified and Publisher Verified are both legitimate registry records. Neither is a demerit, and neither is a tier of the other. They differ in what was verified: the book, or the imprint that published it.
The registry presents them with equal visual standing. The following are prohibited on every surface that displays registry data, including the public site, the API, and any third-party display:
Color coding, medals, tiers, checkmarks on one status and not another, progress indicators, or any visual treatment that ranks the statuses.
Ranking language of any kind: “higher,” “lower,” “upgrade,” “basic,” “full,” “partial,” “level.”
Sorting search results by status by default. Status may be offered as a neutral filter.
Any statement or implication that a Publisher Verified edition fell short of certification, failed, or was declined.
Each status states plainly what was and was not checked. The facts do the differentiating; the presentation does not.
There is no bibliographic-only status. Every record in the registry exists because the accountable party submitted the edition, or because the edition comes from an imprint on the recognized publisher list. No book is entered into the registry by unilateral decision about a work whose author never asked to be there.
5.1 Publisher Verified Rules
A Publisher Verified record is created only for editions published by an imprint on the recognized publisher list. Bibliographic facts come from publisher, ISBN, library, distributor, or other reliable catalog records.
Recognition attaches to the imprint, never to a particular book. A Publisher Verified record does not imply that the publisher participates in, sponsors, or approves Christian Book Standard, and it does not describe or characterize the publisher’s internal standards. It states that the imprint meets the published criteria in Appendix G.
A Publisher Verified record never displays identity-verified, eligibility-affirmed, source-verified, AI-disclosed, or endorsement-verified language. No Eligibility Affirmation is required or implied, because nobody submitted the edition.
The accountable party for any Publisher Verified edition may submit it for certification at any time. The record states this in neutral wording.
Publisher Verified is a transitional status for editions that were published before, or outside, the certification process. It is not a permanent parallel track and is not a substitute for certification. Christian Book Standard may narrow its application in a future version of this Standard.
If an imprint is removed from the recognized publisher list, every Publisher Verified record under it changes accordingly, dated in the record history.
Publishers and authors may request correction of bibliographic facts through a documented correction channel without submitting for certification. An accountable party may also request that an edition be removed from Publisher Verified; the request is honored and the record is withdrawn without public notation.
5.2 Editorial Suppression
Christian Book Standard may decline to create a Publisher Verified record for any edition or author, at its discretion, without publishing a reason and without notice.
Constraints on that discretion:
A suppressed edition simply does not appear in the registry. It is never given a different status, flag, annotation, or public marker, and nothing published anywhere may allow a suppressed title to be distinguished from one that was never loaded.
Suppression never produces a negative record, a public list, or any characterization of a book or an author.
Suppression holds a title out of the registry. It never produces a lesser status and never generates any adverse statement.
Every suppression is logged internally with the deciding reviewer, date, and reason. The log is a governance record and is not published.
Suppression applies only to Publisher Verified records. It is not a route for declining a submitted edition; submissions are decided under Section 6 and Section 17.
5.3 Reader Requests
Any reader may ask that a title be added to the registry. A request creates an internal queue entry. It never creates a public record, never appears publicly, and never causes any status to attach to a book.
Staff review the queue. Where a requested title is from an imprint on the recognized publisher list, it may be entered as Publisher Verified under the normal rules. Otherwise nothing happens publicly, and the requester is told that the title is not in the registry, together with the fixed language in Appendix E stating what that does and does not mean.
The request queue is never published, in whole or in aggregate, in any form that identifies titles or authors.
6. Audit Process
Submission. Manuscript or final files, ISBN, author identity documentation, Author Attestation, AI Use Disclosure, endorsement list, and publisher contact are submitted through christianbookstandard.org.
Identity verification. The accountable author’s identity is verified once and held on record. Subsequent titles by the same verified author skip this step unless the record is older than three years.
Automated audit. Machine-assisted checks may examine Scripture references, citations, quotations, metadata, text similarity, disclosure consistency, and other defined signals. Automated output is evidence for review, not a certification decision. Checks that cannot be performed reliably for a language, source, or format are marked for human review or “unable to verify” rather than silently treated as passed.
Human review. A reviewer examines material flags, applies the published sampling rules to unflagged material, and records the evidence basis for each mandatory domain. No requirement is failed solely on automated output. Where the standard requires a condition to be true of the whole work but verification is sampled, the record states the sample size and the certification limitation.
Determination. Certified, Not Certified (with reasons), or Returned for correction (submitter may correct and resubmit once within 60 days at no additional charge).
Record. A registry record is created or updated, a CBR record number is assigned, and a QR code resolving to that exact record is issued. If the public seal program has been activated and legally cleared, the submitter may also be licensed to display the seal for that edition.
Evidence labels used by the reviewer
| Label | Reviewer meaning |
|---|---|
| Verified | Required evidence was obtained and the defined check was completed. |
| Self-reported | Information was supplied by the accountable author/publisher and is displayed as disclosure rather than independently confirmed. |
| Not evaluated | The field/domain is outside this edition’s audit scope or has not been checked. |
| Unable to verify | The defined check was attempted but sufficient evidence was unavailable or technically inaccessible; the reviewer must determine whether the affected requirement can still be met. |
Review depth by track record
First title from a newly verified author: full audit.
Author with one or more certified titles in good standing: standard audit.
Titles submitted in bulk by a recognized publisher with a documented internal process meeting the Standard: sampled audit, with the publisher’s process documented in the record. The publisher submits; Christian Book Standard decides.
7. Author Attestation (summary of required statements)
The accountable party signs two documents: the Eligibility Affirmation (Appendix H) and the Author Attestation (Appendix C).
The Eligibility Affirmation is the six-point Statement of Christian Belief in Appendix H, written in plain language and signed as a whole.
The Author Attestation affirms, for the specific edition submitted, that:
I am a real person, and the identity documents I have provided are genuine.
I am the author of this work (or the accountable author who directed and takes responsibility for it), and I accept responsibility for every assertion it contains.
My AI Use Disclosure for this edition is truthful and complete.
All credentials, affiliations, endorsements, citations, and quotations in this work are genuine to the best of my knowledge.
This work does not copy or closely imitate another author’s work.
A responsible human read and approved the complete final manuscript before publication.
I understand that a false statement in this attestation or in the Eligibility Affirmation will result in revocation of certification and public notation of the revocation.
8. Seal Use and Revocation
When the public seal program is active, the seal (working name: “Human Accountable — Meets the Christian Book Standard”; final mark pending clearance) may be displayed on the certified edition, its listings, and its marketing, always with the CBR record number or QR code.
The seal may not be displayed on any edition other than the one certified, on unrelated works by the same author, or in a way that implies theological endorsement.
Certification is revoked if a mandatory requirement is later found to have been unmet at the time of certification, if the Author Attestation or the Eligibility Affirmation is found to have been false when signed, or if the seal is misused. Revocations are noted publicly on the record.
An eligibility revocation is a finding of misrepresentation, not a theological ruling. The question is never whether the accountable party’s beliefs are correct, but whether the text of the edition contradicts one of the six statements the accountable party signed. That determination follows Section 17.1 and is made by a panel, never by staff alone and never by automated output.
Certification is valid for the life of the edition. Records are reviewed if a credible integrity complaint is received.
9. Complaints and Corrections
Any reader, author, or publisher may submit an integrity complaint against a certified record through christianbookstandard.org. Complaints are reviewed under the same requirements; the author is notified and may respond; outcomes are recorded. Christian Book Standard corrects its own errors publicly and promptly.
10. Independence
Christian Book Standard evaluates submissions from any publisher, imprint, or self-publisher on the same requirements.
Submitters do not determine outcomes. Payment, when introduced, is for the audit, not for the result.
Christian Book Standard, as the certifying body, does not publish, sell, or market the books it certifies. Any publishing activity by affiliated persons is conducted through a separate entity that submits to certification on the same terms as everyone else.
Reviewers recuse from titles in which they have a personal or financial interest.
11. Openness and Versioning
This Standard is published openly and may be read, cited, and implemented internally by anyone at no charge. Only independent certification by Christian Book Standard and use of the seal are controlled. Publishers may state that their internal process “follows the Christian Book Integrity Standard” but may not display the seal or describe titles as certified without a Christian Book Standard record.
Versions are permanent and public. Patch versions (v1.0.1) correct wording; minor versions (v1.1) add or clarify requirements; major versions (v2.0) restructure the standard. Every record names the version it was certified under. A title certified under an earlier version remains certified under that version.
12. What the Standard Does Not Do
It does not judge whether a book’s theology is correct, and it does not adjudicate doctrinal differences among historic Christian traditions. It requires and records the accountable party’s own affirmation; it does not grade it.
It does not monitor what an author believes after certification. Certification attaches to the edition as of its certification date. A later change in an author’s beliefs or affiliation is not grounds for revocation and is not tracked.
It does not publish, maintain, or endorse any list of excluded, disfavored, or non-standard religious traditions. Works whose accountable party does not sign the Eligibility Affirmation are not certified; nothing further is stated about them or about anyone.
It does not evaluate writing quality. The editorial completeness domain checks for enumerated defects only.
It does not certify literary quality.
It does not claim a book contains no AI-produced text.
It does not rank books, authors, or publishers.
It does not decide who is a “real Christian.” “Real,” where the term is used in reader materials, refers to the book: a real work by a real, accountable author, honestly represented.
Appendix A — Record Fields
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| CBR record number | Format CBR-YYYY-NNNNNN, permanent |
| Title / subtitle / edition | As printed |
| ISBN(s) | One record per edition; formats of the same edition may share a record |
| Author(s) | Display name; “pen name — identity verified” where applicable |
| Publisher / imprint | With responsible contact held on file |
| Registry status | Certified / Publisher Verified / Submitted (Revoked where applicable) |
| Standard version | Version certified under |
| Certification date | |
| Author accountability | Verified / Not yet verified |
| AI use classification | Human-written / AI-assisted / AI-generated |
| AI roles disclosed | List |
| Source integrity result | Sample size and result |
| Endorsements | Verified / Not applicable |
| Eligibility affirmation | Signed / Not applicable. Signatory type: accountable author or responsible party |
| Tradition | Self-described by the accountable party; required on Certified records; never ranked or annotated |
| Editorial completeness | Result of the 4.8 defect checks |
| Reader disclosures | Content advisory; audience |
| Record history | Complaints, corrections, revocations |
| QR target | URL of this record |
Appendix B — AI Use Disclosure Form (fields)
Classification: Human-written / AI-assisted / AI-generated
AI tools used (names, optional)
Roles AI performed: research; outlining; editing/refining human-written text; proofreading; fact-checking; drafting working text not retained as substantive final prose; drafting substantive final prose; translation of final content; image or cover generation; audiobook narration; none
Approximate proportion of final prose originating from AI drafts: none / under 10% / 10–50% / over 50%
Confirmation that every AI output included was reviewed by the accountable author
Consistency confirmation with any retailer AI disclosure already made
13. Special Cases
13.1 Multi-author works and edited volumes
Every named author is verified and signs an attestation covering their own contribution.
The volume editor is the accountable author for the work as a whole and signs an attestation covering selection, front matter, and any contribution not attributed to a verified contributor.
Contributors who cannot be verified (deceased, unreachable) are noted in the record; the editor accepts responsibility for the accuracy of their attribution.
13.2 Translations
The translator is a verified, accountable person and signs an attestation covering fidelity to the source.
The source work and its author are identified. If the source work is itself certified, the record links to it.
AI disclosure covers the translation process separately from the original.
13.3 Revised editions
A new printing with only typographical corrections keeps its certification; the record notes the printing.
A revised edition with changed, added, or removed content is a new submission, audited at standard depth with the prior record linked. Prior certification remains valid for the prior edition.
13.4 Deceased or historical authors
Works by deceased authors are submitted by the rights holder or publisher, who becomes the accountable party for the edition’s accuracy and any added material. The record shows “accountable party: publisher.”
The responsible-party pathway also covers posthumous editions, historic reprints, edited collections with many contributors, and institutional or corporate-authored works. In every such case a named responsible editor or publishing officer signs both the Author Attestation and the Eligibility Affirmation on behalf of the edition.
Where the affirmation was signed by a responsible party rather than by the original author, the record states this plainly: “Eligibility Affirmation signed by the responsible party for this edition.” The record never implies that a deceased or historic author signed anything.
For a responsible-party submission, the Eligibility Affirmation attaches to the edition as offered, not to the original author’s personal beliefs, which Christian Book Standard does not assess.
13.5 Ghostwritten and “with” works
- The credited author is the accountable author. Ghostwriting is disclosed in the record (D). Credited co-writers (“with Jane Doe”) are verified.
13.6 Public-domain and classic works
• For a work whose original author is deceased and the text is public domain, the publisher/rights-responsible party is accountable for the integrity of the submitted edition, including introductions, annotations, translation, modernization, cover claims, and AI-generated additions.
• The record distinguishes the historical author from the accountable party for the current edition and does not imply identity verification of a deceased person.
13.7 AI-generated cover art, translation, and narration
• AI-generated cover/interior images do not by themselves make the prose AI-generated, but the use is disclosed separately.
• A translation created by AI and then edited by a human is disclosed as AI-generated translation content; a verified translator/editor is accountable for fidelity.
• AI narration is disclosed separately from authorship. Audiobook certification applies to the edition’s text/content integrity and records the narration disclosure where submitted.
14. Identity Verification Procedure
Identity is established once per accountable author and reused across submissions for three years, after which it is refreshed.
| Step | What is required | What is retained |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Legal identity | Government-issued photo ID checked against a live or recorded presence check. | Verified/not verified flag, ID type, verification date. The ID image is deleted after verification. |
| 2. Contactability | A working email and one additional channel (phone, publisher contact, or verified social profile). | Contact record, held confidentially. |
| 3. Public consistency | The name, bio, and credentials presented to readers are consistent with the verified identity. | Notes on any discrepancy and its resolution. |
| 4. Pen name (if any) | Legal name linked to the pen name on file. | Link held confidentially; the public record shows “pen name — identity verified.” |
| 5. Credentials (if claimed) | Degrees, ordination, positions, affiliations confirmed with the issuing body or a public record. | Verified/unverified per credential; unverifiable credentials must be removed from the work or listed as unverified. |
Christian Book Standard never publishes a legal name behind a pen name, an address, or contact details. Identity records are held only to establish accountability and are disclosed only under legal compulsion.
15. Audit Sampling Rules
Automated checks run on the full text. Human source review is sampled according to length and risk; the sample size and result are shown in the record (S6).
| Work length | Minimum citations checked | Minimum Scripture references checked | Minimum quotations checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 40,000 words | All, up to 40 | All, up to 60 | All, up to 25 |
| 40,000–100,000 words | 40 or 25%, whichever is greater | 60 or 25%, whichever is greater | 25 or 25%, whichever is greater |
| Over 100,000 words | 60 or 20%, whichever is greater | 80 or 20%, whichever is greater | 35 or 20%, whichever is greater |
Escalation to full check
Any fabricated citation, quotation, or Scripture reference found in the sample triggers a full check of that category.
An automated flag rate above 5% in any category triggers a full human check of that category.
First title from a newly verified author is checked at the next length tier up.
A work whose AI disclosure is “AI-generated” is checked at full depth for citations and quotations regardless of length, because fabricated references are the characteristic failure mode of generated prose.
16. Publisher Program Requirements
A publisher may qualify for sampled audits of bulk submissions if it documents an internal process that meets the following. Christian Book Standard reviews the process, samples titles, and remains the sole decision-maker on every certification.
A named integrity officer responsible for compliance with the Standard.
Author identity verification equivalent to Section 14, or delegation of that step to Christian Book Standard.
An AI Use Disclosure collected from every author for every title, retained, and provided on submission.
A citation and quotation checking process with records retained per title.
An endorsement verification process.
Agreement to the sampling rate set by Christian Book Standard (initially not less than one in five titles at full depth) and to full audit of any title flagged by sampling.
An Eligibility Affirmation collected from the accountable party for every title submitted for certification, retained, and produced on request. A publisher may attest at program level that every submitted author has signed; Christian Book Standard samples the underlying signatures at the rate it sets.
Agreement that Christian Book Standard may revoke program status for a pattern of failures and that revocation is noted publicly.
Publisher program membership never permits a publisher to mark a title certified. The publisher submits; Christian Book Standard decides. Membership reduces repetitive verification work through sampling; it does not reduce the requirements, and it does not waive the Eligibility Affirmation.
Publishers may state that their process “follows the Christian Book Integrity Standard.” Only titles with a Christian Book Standard record may be described as certified or carry the seal.
17. Complaint Procedure
| Stage | Action | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt | Complaint logged with a reference number; complainant acknowledged; frivolous or duplicate complaints closed with a note. | 5 business days |
| Notice | Author and publisher notified of the substance of the complaint (complainant identity withheld unless they consent). | 5 business days |
| Response | Author/publisher may respond with evidence. | 20 business days |
| Review | The relevant requirements re-checked; a reviewer with no prior involvement decides. | 20 business days after response |
| Outcome | Upheld (record corrected or certification revoked, noted publicly), Not upheld (record unchanged; complaint outcome noted internally), or Corrected (author fixed the issue; record notes correction). | On decision |
| Appeal | Either party may appeal once to a second reviewer. Decision is final. | 20 business days |
17.1 Eligibility Complaints
A complaint alleging that a certified edition contradicts the Eligibility Affirmation its accountable party signed follows this procedure and no other. It is a misrepresentation procedure, not a doctrinal review.
Intake. Any person may file. A complaint is admissible only if it identifies specific passages in the edition, by page or location, and names which of the six statements in Appendix H those passages are alleged to contradict. Complaints that do not do both are closed at intake.
Screen. Staff determine one question: does the complaint allege a contradiction of one of the six signed statements, with citations? Complaints alleging that a work is doctrinally mistaken, denominationally objectionable, insufficiently rigorous, or disagreeable on any question other than the enumerated articles are closed at screen. Christian Book Standard publishes screen-out categories in aggregate, without title or author names, so that the boundary of this procedure is publicly visible.
Panel. Admissible complaints go to a panel of three reviewers drawn from a standing published roster, selected from traditions with no stake in the specific question raised, named on the outcome, and subject to published recusal rules. The panel considers the text of the edition and the named statement. It does not consider reviews, ratings, sales, publisher identity, complaint volume, or any material from any other site.
Response. The accountable party and publisher receive notice of the specific allegation, the cited passages, and the named statement, and have 20 business days to respond and a correction window.
Outcomes, and no others: Not sustained. Corrected, with the correction dated in the record history. Affirmation withdrawn by the accountable party, recorded neutrally. Revoked for misrepresentation of the affirmation.
Appeal to a differently constituted panel, once.
Publication. Complaint volume, screen-out categories, sustain rate, panel composition, and outcomes are published in aggregate.
Reviews as source, never as trigger. A published review may prompt a person to file a complaint. Review counts, ratings, sentiment, and aggregate scores from any site never trigger a complaint, never constitute evidence, and are never seen by the panel. No commercial activity of any kind bears on a certification decision.
Automated output never decides. Machine-assisted analysis may flag passages for human review. A flag is not a finding. Every finding is made by named human reviewers, and no certification is granted, refused, or revoked on automated output.
This procedure operates from Standard v2.1. Until the standing roster and counsel review are in place, eligibility complaints are logged and acknowledged, and no panel is convened.
18. Data Governance and Retention
• Collect the minimum data needed for accountability, audit, licensing, complaint handling, and legal obligations.
• Government-ID images are deleted after the identity check unless temporary retention is legally required; retain verification result, method category, date, and reviewer/audit log.
• Legal names behind verified pen names, private contact information, and unpublished evidence are access-controlled and are not included in public structured data.
• Registry records, certification history, public corrections, and revocations are retained as long-term public integrity records. Private submission files follow a published retention schedule.
• Security incidents affecting identity or confidential evidence trigger an incident-response process and legally required notifications.
Appendix C — Author Attestation (full text)
I, [legal name], publishing as [author name as printed], affirm the following regarding the work titled [title], edition [edition], ISBN [ISBN]:
I am a real person. The identity documents I have provided to Christian Book Standard are genuine and describe me.
I am the author of this work, or I am the accountable author who directed its creation and I accept responsibility for every assertion it contains, including any material produced with the assistance of other people or software tools.
The AI Use Disclosure I have submitted for this edition is truthful and complete. Every passage produced by an AI tool that appears in this work was read and approved by me before publication.
The biography, credentials, affiliations, and positions attributed to me in or about this work are accurate.
To the best of my knowledge after reasonable checking, every citation, quotation, Scripture reference, statistic, and attributed statement in this work is genuine and accurately represents its source.
Every endorsement printed in or used to promote this work was given by the named person for this work, and their stated title and affiliation are accurate.
I have not purchased reviews, arranged fabricated reviews, or conditioned any review benefit on a favorable review. Any free copy, reviewer/member discount, or other material benefit arranged for a review is disclosed where that review is published.
This work does not copy, closely paraphrase, or repackage another author’s work, and does not reproduce copyrighted material beyond fair use without permission.
A responsible human being read and approved the complete final manuscript of this edition before publication. It contains no unresolved prompts, placeholder text, or model artifacts; no substantial duplicated or machine-repeated passages; no broken or nonsensical note structures; and no materially incomplete or malformed chapters.
I have separately signed the Eligibility Affirmation for this edition, and the statements in it are true.
I understand that Christian Book Standard may revoke certification and note the revocation publicly if any statement here or in the Eligibility Affirmation is found to be false, and that certification does not constitute theological endorsement.
Signed: ____________________ Date: __________
Appendix D — AI Use Disclosure (full form)
| Field | Options / instructions |
|---|---|
| Classification | Text classification: Human-written / AI-assisted / AI-generated. Separately disclose AI-generated images/cover, translation, and narration. |
| AI tools used | Names (optional but encouraged) |
| Roles AI performed (check all) | Brainstorming; research assistance; outlining; editing/refining human-written text; proofreading; fact-checking; drafting working text not retained as substantive final prose; drafting substantive final prose; translation of final content; image/cover generation; audiobook narration; none. If AI-originated substantive final prose remains in the edition, the text classification is AI-generated; final AI-generated images or translations are disclosed separately. |
| Proportion of final prose originating in AI drafts | None / under 10% / 10–50% / over 50% |
| Human review confirmation | I confirm every AI output included was read and approved by me. |
| Retailer disclosure consistency | List any AI disclosure/classification made to Amazon or another distributor. If its definitions differ from the Standard, explain the difference; no forced “consistency” statement is required. |
| Public notation consent | I understand that “AI-generated” classification is displayed on the public listing. |
Appendix E — Record Display Language
Fixed wording used on every record so that status is never ambiguous. This copy is not rewritten, shortened, or added to by any site, including third-party displays.
Certified: “Evaluated under the Christian Book Integrity Standard v[X.Y]. Certified [date]. The accountable party’s identity was verified and the Eligibility Affirmation signed; AI use, Scripture references, citations, quotations, credentials, endorsements, and editorial completeness were reviewed under the published requirements. The record states what was verified, self-reported, sampled, or not evaluated. This is not a theological endorsement.”
Publisher Verified: “Published by [imprint], an imprint on the Christian Book Standard recognized publisher list. Recognition requires that an imprint acquire and contract with named human authors and maintain editorial and review processes, under the published criteria. This edition has not been individually submitted for certification, and Christian Book Standard has not verified its authorship, AI disclosure, or sources. The accountable party may submit this edition for certification at any time.”
Submitted: “Received for review. Certification: pending.”
Revoked: “Certification revoked [date]: [reason category].”
Eligibility Affirmation, on a Certified record: “The accountable party signed the Statement of Christian Belief published in the Christian Book Integrity Standard and declared this work to be a Christian work. Christian Book Standard verifies that the affirmation was made under a verified identity. It does not evaluate the theology of the work.”
Responsible-party variant: “Eligibility Affirmation signed by the responsible party for this edition.”
Tradition, on a Certified record: “Tradition: [value] — self-described by the accountable party. Christian Book Standard assigns no theological labels and does not evaluate this field.”
Not in registry (search result): “This title is not in the Christian Book Registry. That does not mean it is not real or that it failed review; it may never have been submitted.”
Never displayed, in any context, on any surface: “not certified,” “unverified,” “verification failed,” “pending verification” for a title with no record, or any wording that characterizes a title, author, publisher, or tradition as deficient.
Appendix F — Public Evidence Labels
| Label | Fixed public meaning |
|---|---|
| Verified | Christian Book Standard checked evidence under the cited procedure in the Standard. |
| Self-reported | Provided by the accountable author or publisher; displayed for transparency but not independently judged as a pass/fail fact unless another requirement says so. |
| Not evaluated | No finding under the Standard is being made for this field. |
| Unable to verify | The defined check could not be completed with sufficient evidence. This label does not by itself mean the claim is false. |
Certification statement: “Certified under the Christian Book Integrity Standard v[X.Y] means this edition met the mandatory requirements under the published audit procedure. The record states what was verified, disclosed, sampled, or not evaluated. Certification is not a theological endorsement or a guarantee that the book contains no errors.”
Appendix G — Recognized Publisher List Criteria
The recognized publisher list is published openly at christianbookstandard.org and is the sole basis for the Publisher Verified status. Recognition is of an imprint, never of a book, an author, or a theological position.
An imprint is admitted to the list when all of the following are true and verifiable from public or supplied records:
- It acquires works and contracts with named human authors or their agents.
- It maintains an editorial process that includes acquisition review and copyediting before publication.
- It has a verifiable business identity, a responsible contact, and a public catalog.
- It has been publishing continuously for at least three years, or is a named imprint of a publisher that meets that test.
- It publishes works presented as Christian, within the eligibility scope in Section 2.1.
- It is not primarily a paid-publishing, author-services, or print-on-demand aggregation service in which the author pays for publication.
Christian Book Standard does not assess an imprint’s doctrinal position, denominational alignment, or editorial viewpoint, and recognition implies no view about any of them.
Procedure:
- The list, the criteria, and every addition and removal with its date are published.
- An imprint may apply for recognition, and may appeal a refusal once, under Section 17.
- An imprint may ask to be removed from the list at any time; the request is honored, and its Publisher Verified records are withdrawn.
- Christian Book Standard may remove an imprint that no longer meets the criteria, including for a pattern of publishing titles with undisclosed AI generation or fabricated authorship. Removal is published with a date and a reason category, and every Publisher Verified record under that imprint changes accordingly.
- Recognition carries no fee. An imprint cannot pay to be recognized, to remain recognized, or to be recognized faster.
Appendix H — Statement of Christian Belief
This appendix has three layers. Layer 1 is what every author signs and every reader sees. Layer 2 is a short plain explanation, one click away. Layer 3 is the technical basis, which exists for complaint adjudication and for anyone who asks what the statement rests on. Nobody is required to read past Layer 1.
The Layer 1 text is fixed. It is reproduced character for character on every surface of every site that displays or collects it, and it is never paraphrased, shortened, expanded, or restated in a site’s own words.
Layer 1 — The Statement (what the author signs)
Statement of Christian Belief
There is one God.
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three persons, one God. Not three names for the same person, and not three separate gods.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. He was not created and has always existed.
Jesus was born of Mary, died on the cross, rose bodily from the dead, and will come again.
The Holy Spirit is God, not a force or an influence.
This book is written as a Christian work for Christian readers, and its purpose is not to argue against Christian faith.
Signature block:
I, [legal name], as the accountable party for [title], edition [edition], ISBN [ISBN], affirm the six statements above.
I understand that Christian Book Standard checks that I signed this under a verified identity. It does not judge whether my book’s teaching is correct, and certification is not a theological endorsement. If this statement was untrue when I signed it, or if the book contradicts one of these six points, certification can be revoked under the published procedure.
Signed: ____________________ Date: __________
Layer 2 — Why We Ask This (plain explanation, one click from the statement)
These six points are not a test of how much theology someone knows. They are the things Christians have agreed on since the earliest centuries of the church, and they are the shortest honest answer to the question a reader is really asking: is this a Christian book, or does it just have the word Christian on the cover?
We do not decide whose theology is right. Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Anglican, Anabaptist, and non-denominational authors all sign the same six points, and they disagree with each other about a great deal else. Baptism, communion, church government, the end times, spiritual gifts, and the role of women in ministry are not on this list and never will be. Those are questions for you, your church, and your tradition.
What we do is simpler. We confirm that a real, identified person put their name to these six points, and we hold them to it. If an author will not affirm them, the book is not certified — that is all that happens, and we say nothing further about the author or about anyone else. If an author affirms them and the book plainly contradicts one of them, that is a false statement made under a verified identity, and it is handled the same way as a fabricated citation or a fake endorsement.
Layer 3 — Technical Basis (for adjudication and for anyone who asks)
The six statements are a plain-language rendering of the doctrine of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit as set out in the Nicene Creed of 381. That creed is the common inheritance of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity, which is why it can serve as a boundary without favoring any of them.
The statements are drafted as content rather than as creedal subscription, so that traditions which decline to subscribe to creeds on principle — Churches of Christ and the wider Restoration Movement, many Baptists, Quakers — are not excluded on procedure while affirming everything the statement contains. The articles are enumerated rather than quoted so that no version-specific clause is at issue; the filioque, which differs between the Eastern and Western texts, appears nowhere in the statement and is not a condition of certification.
Mapping, for use by a complaint panel under Section 17.1:
| Layer 1 statement | Article of the creed of 381 |
|---|---|
| 1. There is one God. | “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” |
| 2. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three persons, one God. | The three-article structure of the creed taken as a whole, with the Son “of one Being with the Father” and the Spirit “worshipped and glorified” with Father and Son. |
| 3. Jesus is fully God and fully human, not created, has always existed. | “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten, not made; of one Being with the Father”; “was incarnate… and became truly human.” |
| 4. Born of Mary, died, rose bodily, will come again. | “Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary”; “was crucified… suffered death and was buried”; “rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”; “will come again in glory.” |
| 5. The Holy Spirit is God, not a force. | “The Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life… who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.” |
| 6. Offered as a Christian work; purpose is not to argue against Christian faith. | Not creedal. This is the eligibility scope rule in Section 2.1. |
A complaint under Section 17.1 must cite specific passages and name one of the six Layer 1 statements. The panel considers whether the text of the edition contradicts that statement. It does not consider the creed’s fuller wording except as interpretive context, and it never rules on any question outside the six.
Two matters deliberately excluded from the statement, recorded so the decision is not revisited:
- Salvation. Formulations of justification and grace divide Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. Including one would exclude publishers already on the recognized publisher list, and it adds no filtering power the six statements do not already have.
- Scripture. A statement on the authority or inerrancy of Scripture would open a live argument among evangelical, Catholic, and mainline traditions while filtering nobody, since the groups the statement excludes affirm the Bible and add other texts to it. The question is addressed instead by requirement S1, which checks that Scripture is quoted accurately.