Governance
The rules that keep sponsorship, factual review, evidence handling, and correction separate from the finding.
Independence is enforced through the engagement terms, evidence record, review roles, and correction history.
Sponsorship and conflictsFunding is disclosed and cannot determine the test or conclusion.
Policy
- Sponsors may define the decision or claim that needs examination, but they may not direct methods, suppress material results, or rewrite the conclusion.
- Reports disclose funding, relevant relationships, competence limits, and whether publication was part of the agreed scope.
- A conflict or prior advisory role is disclosed before work begins and may require a different evaluator or refusal of the engagement.
Review and independent sign-offSubjects can correct facts; they cannot veto the finding.
Policy
- The subject receives a defined factual-review window before a public report is released.
- Factual corrections are incorporated when supported. A subject response and evaluator reply may be published with the report.
- High-stakes public findings receive a second review for traceability, scope, and conclusion language.
Evidence, correction, and withdrawalThe record shows what changed without erasing what came before.
Policy
- Methods and raw evidence are preserved when legal, contractual, confidentiality, and security obligations permit.
- Each public report identifies its version, correction history, and current revalidation status.
- Amendments, supersession, and withdrawal remain visible with the reason and effective date.
Before work begins