Record what the publisher provides
A source may show a publication date, an update time, an edition number or no date at all. Copy the identifier it actually provides and keep its meaning. Do not relabel a download time as the publication date.
If the source gives no usable date, record 'not stated'. That is more informative than a timestamp invented by the software, because the next reviewer can see the limit of the available information.
Record your own access separately
The access timestamp describes your desk's action: when it fetched or opened the source. Include a timezone or use an unambiguous format agreed by the team. Store the source address and the identity of the item you were checking alongside it.
Where your permissions and retention policy allow it, preserve the exact document or a version identifier. A link to a page that changes later cannot always show the reader what you saw earlier.
Give changes a history
If someone checks the source again, add a new observation rather than overwriting the old access time. The later observation may use a different edition or reveal that the publisher has changed its wording.
Keep the relationship between a decision and the evidence version used for that decision. This avoids making an earlier decision appear to have relied on information that arrived afterwards.
Use a small field set consistently
A useful starting set is source name, source address, publisher's date or edition, access timestamp, item being checked and any access failure. Add a separate field for the person's subsequent decision.
Marsa describes its approach as recording the list edition and the minute it was read. The same distinction is useful when designing the handover notes and evidence folders around a screening process, regardless of the tool used.
Sources and further reading
This is an editorial explanation of evidence-record design. Marsa's site supports the description of its intended timestamped record; the suggested field set is not a legal standard.
- Marsa: timestamped evidence records · checked 21 September 2026
Published by Marsa. Prepared with AI assistance and reviewed against the cited material.
