sourcescensus

Sourcescensus is a framework and ongoing practice for auditing, documenting, and analyzing the information sources used in research, journalism, policy analysis, and related fields. It aims to improve transparency, coverage, and reproducibility by creating a structured census of sources, including their type, provenance, and potential biases. The approach emphasizes systematic cataloging rather than subjective judgment, enabling researchers to track where information comes from and how representative it is.

Methodology involves defining the scope, identifying sources, and classifying them by category such as academic publications, official records, news outlets, primary data, and expert interviews. Metadata is recorded for each source, including author, publication date, geographic origin, language, access constraints, and link to the original or translation. Provenance tracking records whether the source is original, replicated, or aggregated, as well as any transformations. Bias and reliability criteria are applied through explicit scoring, with periodic updates to reflect new sources or retractions.

Applications span several domains. In academia, sourcescensus supports comprehensive literature reviews and audit trails. In journalism, it helps anchor claims in verifiable origins and reveals potential gaps in coverage. In policy analysis and governance, it aids mapping information ecosystems and evaluating information diversity. In data science and machine learning, it can document training-data provenance and data-citation practices.

Data model and governance play a central role. The core entity is Source, with attributes such as name, type, authors, dates, language, and URL, and relationships to coverage areas, geographic origin, and bias flags. Implementations range from lightweight spreadsheets to database-backed systems, often coupled with periodic audits and collaborative curation.

Limitations include resource requirements, subjectivity in categorization, evolving source landscapes, privacy and copyright concerns, and the need for standardization across organizations. Despite these challenges, sourcescensus aims to promote transparency, accountability, and more robust evidence foundations. See also information governance, research transparency, and source verification.