Our work is reviewed by internal and external experts in child rights, digital media, and digital policy and legislation to ensure integrity and quality before publication.

We make sure that the resources we find are reliable and come from credible sources. For peer-reviewed academic publications, it is usually a straightforward process, because academic research is scrutinised at the onset in various stages. These are usually in the form of institutional research ethics reviews, peer reviews, and editorial reviews. Credible academic sources are also indexed in relevant bibliographic databases for the field. For non-academic research and publications, we need more caution.

We assess the credibility of research based on the criteria below.

Authorship

Who are the authors? Who conducted the research? What are their affiliations?

Purpose

What is the purpose of the publication? Why was the research undertaken?

Has the research been adopted as the basis for design change or legal/ regulatory/ treaty frameworks?

Funding

Who funded the research? Is the funding from public or private sources?

Is the research transparent about funding?

Is the funding independent of commercial interests?

Is the funding independent of political interests?

If there isn’t any declaration of funding, is there an institutional sponsorship, such as a university, a private or public research centre, or a company?

Methodology

How was the data collected and analysed? Is the methodology sound and accurate? Does the research make use of secondary data?

Are the methods transparent? For example, is there sufficient information provided for others to replicate the research?

Are the methods unique? Is there sufficient information to understand why it is relevant and important (e.g., whistleblower or analysis of multiple studies)?

Are the authors clear about the limitations of their research and not overclaiming their findings?

Is the research valid? Does it measure what it claims to measure?

Ethical and peer review

Has the research passed an ethical review by a reputable institution?

Has the research undergone independent peer review?

Children’s views

Was the research consulted with children?

Have efforts been made to consult a diversity of children?

Does it acknowledge sufficiently children’s views?

Access

Is there a freely available and open-access full-text report or publication? Is the publication behind a paywall? Can the publication be accessed via public libraries?

Bias

Is the analysis of the research unbiased? Does the author examine more than one perspective?

Relevance

When was the research conducted and published? Are the findings still relevant? Are they still applicable?

Does the research focus on a specific geography?

Does the research focus on a little-studied group (e.g., children with disabilities)

Does the research cover an emerging topic?

References

What types of resources does the publication refer to? Are they credible?