The Conversation, which edits and publishes articles written by academics, has joined alternative press regulator Impress.

The non-profit news outfit publishes its content online for free and allows news publications to republish it without charge, such as the i paper.

The Conversation launched in the UK six years ago and is edited by former Guardian news editor Stephen Khan (pictured).

He said: “The Conversation is determined to ensure the high standards we have set for dealing with corrections and clarifications and building trust with readers are maintained.

“All our authors are academic experts, and we have earned a reputation for generating content that is transparent and valuable. As a charity, we exist purely to channel such knowledge to the general public.

“We believe signing up to an independent regulator will help us in this pursuit of generating explanatory journalism of the highest order.”

The Conversation claims to reach a total monthly audience of more than 10m, via its own website and republication elsewhere.

It is funded by 74 UK and five European institutions who pay an annual membership fee, its primary source of funding, while the rest comes from grants from other organisations.

A team of some 20 editors work with thousands of academics who respond to topical news items on their area of expertise.

Khan told Press Gazette last year that The Conversation had launched a “pre-emptive strike against fake news” when it arrived in the UK.

Impress now regulates more than 130 independent UK news titles, but counts digital and print publications twice in some instances.

Picture: Press Gazette