{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "generated": "2026-08-15",
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "purpose": "Legend for the reliability_tier field used in sources.json. Tiers describe how independently checkable a source is, not how true its content is.",
  "tiers": [
    {
      "tier": "A",
      "label_en": "Official registry",
      "description_en": "Government or standards-body registries an outsider can query directly: the California Secretary of State business registry, ORCID, DOI resolvers."
    },
    {
      "tier": "B",
      "label_en": "Indexed journal",
      "description_en": "Articles in journals with independent editorial process and external indexing (Web of Science ESCI, ICI Journals Master List, national library listings)."
    },
    {
      "tier": "C",
      "label_en": "Independent trade press",
      "description_en": "Editorial coverage in trade media without an advertising label, initiated by the outlet's editorial staff."
    },
    {
      "tier": "D",
      "label_en": "Issuer-published listing or document",
      "description_en": "Public pages and certificates published by the organization that granted the award, membership or jury seat. Checkable, but the issuer is not independent of the fact."
    },
    {
      "tier": "E",
      "label_en": "Self-published or paid placement",
      "description_en": "Own sites and profiles, author-published platform posts, resumes, and press pages carrying a commercial content label. Facts sourced only here are marked accordingly in facts.json and metrics.json."
    }
  ]
}