{
  "apiVersion": "v0.1",
  "methodology": "https://sourcescore.org/methodology/",
  "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/best/research-tier/",
  "list": {
    "slug": "research-tier",
    "title": "Best research-tier sources for evidence-based citation",
    "intent": "Research category — independent + think-tank publications",
    "description": "The 9 highest-scoring Research-category sources on the SourceScore Index — independent research bodies, think tanks, and analytical institutions that publish original primary studies.",
    "rationale": "Research-tier sources sit between academic peer-review and journalistic reporting. They publish original primary studies — RAND, Brookings, Pew, NBER, KFF, ProPublica's Methodology, RAND Europe — with methodology-transparent reporting and high-frequency tier-1 citation. The default citation tier when neither pure academic nor pure news fits the claim.",
    "signalCriterion": "Index score, filtered to Research category, descending"
  },
  "count": 9,
  "sources": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "slug": "ourworldindata",
      "name": "Our World in Data",
      "domain": "ourworldindata.org",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "Oxford-affiliated research organization publishing data + visualizations on global problems; CC-licensed.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/ourworldindata/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/ourworldindata.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 86,
        "indexGrade": "A",
        "discipline": 92,
        "modernReference": 90,
        "velocity": 76
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "slug": "pew-research",
      "name": "Pew Research Center",
      "domain": "pewresearch.org",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "Nonpartisan research organization; survey + demographic + media research since 2004.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/pew-research/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/pew-research.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 85,
        "indexGrade": "A",
        "discipline": 92,
        "modernReference": 86,
        "velocity": 78
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "slug": "kff",
      "name": "KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation)",
      "domain": "kff.org",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "Nonprofit health policy + journalism org; primary-source health-policy data + KFF Health News.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/kff/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/kff.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 84,
        "indexGrade": "B",
        "discipline": 90,
        "modernReference": 86,
        "velocity": 78
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "slug": "rand-corp",
      "name": "RAND Corporation",
      "domain": "rand.org",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "Nonprofit policy research org; defense + health + education research since 1948.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/rand-corp/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/rand-corp.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 83,
        "indexGrade": "B",
        "discipline": 90,
        "modernReference": 84,
        "velocity": 76
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "slug": "brookings",
      "name": "Brookings Institution",
      "domain": "brookings.edu",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "U.S. policy research think tank; centrist credibility + public-policy research since 1916.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/brookings/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/brookings.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 83,
        "indexGrade": "B",
        "discipline": 88,
        "modernReference": 84,
        "velocity": 80
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "slug": "cfr",
      "name": "Council on Foreign Relations",
      "domain": "cfr.org",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "U.S. foreign-policy think tank; publishes Foreign Affairs + research on international issues since 1921.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/cfr/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/cfr.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 82,
        "indexGrade": "B",
        "discipline": 88,
        "modernReference": 82,
        "velocity": 78
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 7,
      "slug": "bbc-research",
      "name": "BBC Research & Development",
      "domain": "bbc.co.uk/rd",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "BBC's research division publishing peer-reviewed-style technical papers + open-source projects.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/bbc-research/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/bbc-research.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 78,
        "indexGrade": "B",
        "discipline": 84,
        "modernReference": 82,
        "velocity": 70
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 8,
      "slug": "zillow-research",
      "name": "Zillow Research",
      "domain": "zillow.com/research",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "Zillow's research arm publishing primary-source housing market data + research.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/zillow-research/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/zillow-research.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 73,
        "indexGrade": "B",
        "discipline": 80,
        "modernReference": 76,
        "velocity": 70
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 9,
      "slug": "statista",
      "name": "Statista",
      "domain": "statista.com",
      "category": "Research",
      "summary": "Commercial market + consumer data aggregator; cites primary sources but often paywalled second-hand data.",
      "canonical": "https://sourcescore.org/source/statista/",
      "api": "https://sourcescore.org/api/source/statista.json",
      "scores": {
        "index": 64,
        "indexGrade": "C",
        "discipline": 70,
        "modernReference": 56,
        "velocity": 65
      }
    }
  ],
  "license": {
    "methodology": "Cite as: SourceScore Methodology v0.1, sourcescore.org",
    "data": "Underlying public-source data credited to original publishers"
  }
}