February 2026 monthly summary for Northeastern-Science-Magazine/nusci-backend: Delivered unified data validation and error handling for users and articles by introducing Zod-based schemas, updating controllers to parse with schema-based methods, removing legacy references, and strengthening error handling and data integrity. Implemented through commits adaf50070f663a99b1c8d2c3b77e932b8a897ecd; 3617de0668650119ed07a85f53c913029ec96877 (article zod validation schemas; test passing pending); 243c6fb7cb09a732b60ed9f6601195bb459f0ad0. This work establishes a single source of truth for validation across critical domain objects and reduces surface-area for data-related defects.

January 2026 monthly summary for Northeastern-Science-Magazine nusci-frontend focused on strengthening access control for internal/protected pages. Implemented an authentication-first redirection mechanism that prevents unauthenticated users from accessing sensitive routes, reducing risk exposure and aligning with security best practices. This work establishes a foundation for scalable access management and future policy-driven controls across the frontend.