Research Quality Gate Audit
Audit Contract
Identify the artifact, intended use, gate owner, evidence sources, and acceptance criteria. Audit only the submitted version; record version/date and explicitly state what was not inspected.
Gate Checks
| Gate | Required checks |
|---|---|
| Evidence | Claims trace to verified sources; uncertainty and evidence limits are visible |
| Design | Question, outcomes, comparators, bias controls, and analysis assumptions are specified |
| Writing | Claims match results; figures, units, references, and terminology are internally consistent |
| References | Identifiers and metadata are complete; citation placement supports the claim |
| Release | Required human approvals, ethics, privacy, and journal requirements are accounted for |
Decision Rules
Issue PASS only when every required criterion is met. Issue CONDITIONAL PASS when defects are bounded, non-deceptive, and have an owner and due condition. Issue BLOCK for unsupported material claims, missing mandatory approvals, invalid data provenance, or unresolved high-severity defects.
Deliverable
Return an audit report with Scope, Evidence inspected, Findings, Severity, Required remediation, Decision, Owner, and Re-audit trigger. Assign severity as Critical, High, Medium, or Low; do not invent a score when no scoring rubric was supplied.
Boundary
This audit informs decisions. It does not replace institutional ethics review, peer review, or regulatory approval.
