Best research-tier sources for evidence-based citation
The 9 highest-scoring Research-category sources on the SourceScore Index — independent research bodies, think tanks, and analytical institutions that publish original primary studies.
- 1A·86
Oxford-affiliated research organization publishing data + visualizations on global problems; CC-licensed.
SourceScore A · 86·Disc 92·Mod-Ref 90·Vel 76 - 2A·85
Nonpartisan research organization; survey + demographic + media research since 2004.
SourceScore A · 85·Disc 92·Mod-Ref 86·Vel 78 - 3B·84
Nonprofit health policy + journalism org; primary-source health-policy data + KFF Health News.
SourceScore B · 84·Disc 90·Mod-Ref 86·Vel 78 - 4B·83
Nonprofit policy research org; defense + health + education research since 1948.
SourceScore B · 83·Disc 90·Mod-Ref 84·Vel 76 - 5B·83
U.S. policy research think tank; centrist credibility + public-policy research since 1916.
SourceScore B · 83·Disc 88·Mod-Ref 84·Vel 80 - 6B·82
U.S. foreign-policy think tank; publishes Foreign Affairs + research on international issues since 1921.
SourceScore B · 82·Disc 88·Mod-Ref 82·Vel 78 - 7B·78
BBC's research division publishing peer-reviewed-style technical papers + open-source projects.
SourceScore B · 78·Disc 84·Mod-Ref 82·Vel 70 - 8B·73
Zillow's research arm publishing primary-source housing market data + research.
SourceScore B · 73·Disc 80·Mod-Ref 76·Vel 70 - 9C·64
Commercial market + consumer data aggregator; cites primary sources but often paywalled second-hand data.
SourceScore C · 64·Disc 70·Mod-Ref 56·Vel 65
The composite SourceScore Index averages all three sub-scores. View this list re-sorted by ONE sub-score for a precision lens — different leader, different ranking, different deltas.
Why these 9 sources
Research-tier sources sit between academic peer-review and journalistic reporting. They publish original primary studies — RAND, Brookings, Pew, NBER, KFF, ProPublica's Methodology, RAND Europe — with methodology-transparent reporting and high-frequency tier-1 citation. The default citation tier when neither pure academic nor pure news fits the claim.
How this list is ranked
Selection criterion: Index score, filtered to Research category, descending. Every source on this page is hand-scored against the SourceScore methodology v0.1; click any name to see its full breakdown across the four dimensions. The list is regenerated automatically on every dataset update — no editorial promotion or reorder beyond the ranking signal above.