Research Standards

Sources

WRI research is built on published evidence: operating authorities’ own advisories and statistics, official statistical releases, validated operational datasets, and carrier and insurer publications, with press used only where primary data are unavailable and always labelled. Every published figure is traceable to a source named on the publication, and press-reported and third-party figures are labelled as such. Where a later document supersedes an earlier one, the later document governs and is cited.

Verification

Figures are checked against the cited source before publication, and headline claims are checked against the primary document itself. Figures that originate from third parties are labelled as such; estimates are attributed; nothing is published as a fact that the cited source does not support.

Accountability and research tooling

Editorial responsibility for every WRI publication rests with a named editor; for the Logistics Growth Index (LGI) and the Gateway Access Monitor that editor is James Carter, Senior Economist. Every published finding is reviewed by a WRI analyst before publication, headline claims are re-verified by the analyst against the primary document, and each edition is approved by the editor responsible for it.

In preparing publications WRI uses research software, including AI-assisted search, document retrieval and first-draft preparation, and automated citation checking that tests whether each cited source resolves and supports the statement it is cited for, with sources that cannot be retrieved automatically checked by hand. Software does not set any direction, classification or headline reading, and nothing prepared with the assistance of software is published without that review. Where a published series is defined by an automated rule — for example a screen of document titles — the relevant methodology says so and publishes the inputs.

Independence

WRI is the intelligence and research arm of the World Certification Institute (WCI) and is funded by the WCI group from general resources. No organisation that is the subject of a WRI finding funds, sponsors or reviews that finding before publication, and, to the best of WRI’s knowledge after enquiry, neither WRI nor WCI holds a financial interest in any organisation that is the subject of a finding. Sales of WRI reports, on published terms to any buyer, do not influence findings. Any WCI relationship — including a certification engagement — with a party that is the subject of a finding is disclosed on the publication concerned.

Corrections

A published figure found to be wrong is corrected on the page with a dated note and listed on the corrections log, which covers the Logistics Growth Index (LGI) and the Gateway Access Monitor; a correction to an Insight is noted, with its date, on the article itself. Changes caused by documents issued after publication are recorded as updates, not corrections. Requests for correction go to monitor@worldresearch.org (Gateway Access Monitor) or research@worldresearch.org (other publications) and are acknowledged within five working days. A party that is the subject of a finding may submit a response, which is published alongside the finding.

Methodologies

Each WRI indicator is published with a public methodology stating what it measures, how readings are produced and revised, and the terms on which they may be used. The Logistics Growth Index (LGI) methodology and the Gateway Access Monitor methodology (v1.1) are published; the August 2026 Monitor edition is a pre-methodology edition. Where a technical note exists behind a methodology, it is available to researchers on request.

Version history — v1.0, 29 August 2026: first publication. Changes to these standards are made only by a new version, recorded here.