Primary producer
Collects, codes, transforms or builds the research object. The producer is named on the release record.
Research Governance
No research object validates itself.
The Lab now separates production, verification and release authority. A founder-produced release may be published as a release candidate after internal QA, but it cannot receive an independent-review or reproduction designation unless a different identifiable person performs the relevant verification and leaves a reviewable record.
Independent verifier
Checks a source trail, performs blinded second coding, or reconstructs the object. For an external-validation claim, this person must be different from the primary producer.
Methods reviewer
Where the output makes inferential claims, a reviewer challenges assumptions, estimands, uncertainty, robustness and material failure modes.
Release approver
Approves publication state and corrections. Approval cannot substitute for independent verification; the evidence state stays pending until the relevant outside record exists.
Role-separation rule. The same person may produce and approve an early release candidate, but the same person cannot be counted as both primary producer and independent verifier for that release. Founder reruns remain internal QA.
Release gates
Draft
Producer named; work may still change materially.
No outside verification required.
Release candidate
Internal QA, provenance and limitations documented.
May still be founder-produced and founder-approved.
Independently reviewed
Different identifiable person completes the defined source-audit, second-coding or methods-review task.
External verification record required.
Reproduced
Outside party reconstructs the relevant analysis or data object from a clean environment and reports discrepancies.
Independent reproduction record required.
Current authority
Layan Oraidi is the current Research Director and retains institutional strategy, research direction and release administration while the Lab is small. This authority permits publication of clearly labelled internal or release-candidate work. It does not permit the founder to convert her own rerun, code check or approval into an independent-review designation.
Current external validation assignments
| Research object | Producer state | External role required next | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Price Release Observatory v0.3.0-rc1 | Founder-led release candidate | Independent source auditor / clean-room reproducer | Open |
| MENA AI Adoption & Labor Adjustment | Founder-led collection | Blinded second coder | Open |
| Procurement Intelligence | Lab-produced public preview | Independent source/process audit | Open |
| Workshop 001 | Materials prepared | Outside reproduction after delivery | Open |
Machine-readable assignments: data/review-assignments.json
Advisor appointments are separate
The Methods & Reproducibility, Regional Data, and Open Research & Governance advisor roles remain open. An advisor is listed only after accepting the role and a public appointment record is created. Advisory status does not automatically count as review of a specific release.
Governance records
The Lab publishes the External Advisory Charter, Funding & Independence standard, institutional policies, release-level validation record and open verification assignments.