TRAC: A4.3: Transparency

A4.3 Repository’s financial practices and procedures are transparent, compliant with relevant accounting standards and practices, and audited by third parties in accordance with territorial legal requirements.

The repository cannot just claim transparency, it must show that it adjusts its business practices to keep them transparent, compliant, and auditable. Confidentiality requirements may prohibit making information about the repository’s finances public, but the repository should be able to demonstrate that it is as transparent as it needs to be and can be within the scope of its community.

Evidence: Demonstrated dissemination requirements for business planning and practices; citations to and/or examples of accounting and audit requirements, standards, and practice; evidence of financial audits already taking place.

---

ICPSR publishes an annual report which contains a financial statement, and it also completes many, many regular reports because it is part of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.