Established to address what the ARF terms as a ‘widening industry trust gap’, the programme will allow ARF members to have their research projects reviewed to ensure that they meet scientific standards regarding study purpose, design, methods and data analysis.

Additionally, the certification process also requires study data to be made available for public review and further analysis.  

Organisations will also have the opportunity to have their research scrutinised by experts.

The initiative is not designed to be used as accreditation as it is not intended for syndicated currency-related research, according to the ARF. Research projects given the seal of approval can add the programme logo to their cover pages.

The first piece of research to be certified is a neuroscience study conducted by the Mobile Marketing Association. The organisation’s head of research and insights, Vas Bakopoulos, said it had received “invaluable” feedback from peers through the programme.

Paul Donato, chief research officer, the ARF, said: “Our Research Quality Certification programme is central to the ARF’s mission to improve the practice of advertising, marketing, and media research through objective research-based insights. There is no better way to generate such insights and achieve industry leadership than through research that addresses gaps in our knowledge with scientific rigour and transparency.”