Source first
Every public claim begins with a named source, definition, period, universe, and material limitation.
Editorial standards
Public-interest analysis with visible boundaries.
These standards apply to the Observatory, Reports & Newsroom, WSI Lab, commissioned work, sponsorship, and media communication.
Evidence classes
Observed, source-modeled, WSI-derived, editorial, and experimental outputs are not blended.
Independence
Sponsors, clients, and partners do not select findings, alter methods, or improve a rank.
Missingness
Missing, suppressed, censored, no-coverage, and zero values remain distinct.
Versioning
Substantive data, method, or claim changes create a new version and visible record.
Do no harm
Charts and language describe measured conditions, not the worth of countries or people.
AI-assisted work
AI may assist research, coding, drafting, and QA; human responsibility and source verification remain required.
Corrections
Errors are corrected promptly and proportionately, with notification when prior use may be affected.
Sponsorship and commissioned work
Editorial firewall
- Funding is disclosed
- WSI retains method and publication control
- No sponsor-selected ranking outcome
- No suppression of an unfavorable result
- No paid improvement of a country or organization
- Conflicts and limitations are visible
Data reuse
Upstream terms still apply
WSI’s own charts or code cannot override a source dataset’s licence. File-specific attribution, modification, third-party, noncommercial, and no-endorsement terms are reviewed separately.