Sourcing rules
Primary sources come first. The desk relies on regulators, statistics offices, customs and trade records, standards bodies, company filings and company releases, in that order of preference, and on structured interviews with people who make, sell, buy or regulate the product.
Market size estimates published by other research firms are not used as inputs, as benchmarks or as citations. A figure in a Douglas Insights report is built from evidence, not borrowed from another publisher.
Every cited source is listed on the report page with its publisher, title, year and a working link where one exists.
Figure verification
Before publication a second reviewer checks each report against a fixed list: segment and regional values add up to the market total, growth rates match the stated start and end values, units and currencies are consistent, every source says what the report attributes to it, and no figure appears without a grade and a method note.
Forecast assumptions are written down in the report, not left inside the model. Each growth rate is tied to a stated driver, such as installed base, procedure volumes, capacity additions or price trends, so a reader can see what would have to change for the forecast to change.
Confidence grades
Every headline figure carries a grade that tells the reader how much weight it can bear. Grade A means corroborated by two or more independent sources, at least one of them primary. Grade B means one strong documented source with directional support. Grade C means a modelled estimate built from adjacent evidence, labelled as an estimate and never presented as a measured value.
Update cadence
Each report states its edition number, last update date and next review date. By default a report is reviewed within twelve months of publication, and sooner when a material event such as a large acquisition, a regulatory decision or a supply shock changes the market. Revised editions carry a change log.
Conflicts of interest
Douglas Insights does not accept payment to include a company in a report, to rank it or to change a figure. Reports carry no sponsored sections. Custom research and consulting clients do not see syndicated reports before publication and cannot alter them.
How to report an error
Email [email protected] with the report URL, the figure or statement concerned and, if possible, the evidence. The desk reviews every report of an error. Material corrections are dated and listed in the corrections log, and the report page is updated.
These standards are applied by the Douglas Insights Research Desk. The full research method is documented on the research methodology page.