Guidelines for Publisher/Research Firms

Business publications wishing to have independent research studies verified by ABC must comply with the following requirements:

1. Verification of research and release of reports will only be conducted for ABC member publications.
2. ABC must review the planned research methodology prior to ABC’s commitment to participate in verification of the research.
3. Approval of the format and data to be reported by ABC must take place in advance of the research being conducted. This information should be submitted to ABC along with details of the research methodology.
4. ABC’s review of survey questionnaires to be used for mailing and personal phone interview must take place prior to the start of the research.
5. The research study must base all interviews on a sample from the subscriber file of an ABC analyzed issue.
6. Acceptance of research data will not take place until a minimum of 40 percent response rate has been obtained.
7. The final report is reviewed by all parties prior to its release.
8. ABC reserves the right to approve all advertising and promotional materials concerning the study or data.
9. During the course of the research gathering and preparation of the results, the study should adhere to all Advertising Research Federation (ARF) guidelines on defining the target audience, the sampling plan, readership measurement, demographics, fixed procedures, response rate, data processing and projects, publication data reporting and files to be retained.