Methodology
Verification Methodology
PetitionHQ does two things, in order: first it resolves one real researcher across 7+ public databases — dropping namesakes — then it scores how well that person's self-reported claims hold up against the public record. Trust is about authenticity, not prestige.
What We Verify
Each report queries 7+ independent sources. A source only counts when it agrees with the resolved identity — a database that returns a different person who happens to share the applicant's name is dropped as a namesake, never counted and never held against them.
| Source | What It Confirms | What It Corroborates |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | Publications, citations, co-authors, research topics, affiliation | The primary identity anchor for most researchers — and the body-of-work signal |
| ORCID | A self-claimed researcher ID, publication list, affiliation | The strongest deterministic identity anchor, when the applicant has one |
| Crossref | DOI-level authorship and publication metadata | Independent confirmation of authorship on indexed works |
| ROR | That an institution is a real, registered organization, its type and country | The institution component — the named affiliation actually exists |
| NSF Award Search | NSF grant awards by PI name | Federal funding under the resolved identity |
| NIH RePORTER | NIH grant awards by PI name | Federal funding under the resolved identity |
| USPTO PatentsView | Granted patents by inventor name | Inventorship under the resolved identity |
What We Don't Verify
Some credentials lack comprehensive public databases. These items are marked “Self-Reported” in the verification report — meaning they come from the applicant's intake form and have not been independently confirmed.
- Invited talks and conference presentations (no comprehensive public database exists)
- Awards and honors (issuing bodies rarely maintain searchable databases)
- Peer review and editorial board roles (reviewer data is confidential by design)
- Specific degree dates or transcripts (not available via public APIs)
- Media coverage or press mentions
- Letters of recommendation content or authorship
How the Trust Score Is Computed
The trust score is a deterministic number from 0 to 100 — no machine learning, no subjective judgment. It is built as an evidence floor, not a pile of additive bonuses: the floor is set by how many independent sources agree it's the same person, and a few components adjust it from there. The whole thing runs after we've resolved who the applicant is.
| Component | Range | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Identity corroboration | 0 / 35 / 45 / 55 | The floor. Set by how many independent sources agree on one resolved person: none → 0, one source → 35, two → 45, three or more → 55. This is the heart of the score. |
| Publication substance | 0 to +15 | A real, indexed body of work — number of works, aggregated citations, and h-index, counted only over sources that agree on the same person. |
| Claim consistency | −15 to +20 | Self-reported numbers checked against the public record. Honest, modest claims earn points. The only way to lose points is an egregious overclaim against a confidently-resolved record (e.g. claiming 5,000 citations against a record showing ~500). |
| Institution & funding | 0 to +10 | The named institution is registered in ROR, and/or grants are corroborated under the resolved identity. |
| No corroborating source (ghost) | 0 | If not a single public source corroborates the identity, the score is 0 — full stop. We never invent trust from a name alone. |
The components sum and the result is clamped to 0–100. A researcher corroborated by three agreeing sources starts at a 55 floor, then adds publication substance, claim consistency, and institution corroboration on top — while someone no public source can place stays at 0.
What “Publicly Corroborated” Means — and Doesn't
PetitionHQ confirms that a researcher profile matching your credentials exists in independent public databases. This is different from confirming that you own that identity.
Concretely: if OpenAlex returns a profile matching your name, field, and institution with a consistent publication count, that profile is “publicly corroborated” — an independent database agrees it exists. We do not confirm you are the person named on that profile.
The one exception: ORCID OAuth
When you connect your ORCID account directly, you prove ownership of that identifier — the credential is issued by ORCID to you personally, not inferred by name-matching. We label this “identity confirmed” rather than “publicly corroborated.” This is a stronger and different claim.
Attorney-facing reviews display both the corroboration level and the methodology, so attorneys can weigh the evidence for themselves. The trust score makes the existence-vs-ownership distinction explicit in every lead.
What the Trust Score Does Not Measure
Trust answers one question: is this a real, findable researcher whose self-reported claims hold up? It is not a measure of how strong their NIW case is — case strength is a separate assessment. A modest but completely honest researcher can score high on trust and still have a borderline case, and vice-versa.
Two guarantees protect honest applicants. First, a database your field simply doesn't use never costs you points — a clinician is not penalized for being absent from a computer-science index. Second, under-indexing is never read as a lie: if your record shows fewer works than you claimed, we treat it as indexing lag, not misrepresentation — the only penalty is an egregious overclaim against a record we've confidently resolved as yours.
Refund Policy
Material misrepresentation
If the verification report reveals that an applicant materially misrepresented their credentials, the claiming attorney can request a full refund within 30 days. Refund requests are reviewed by our team and processed within 5–10 business days.
Applicant non-response
If an applicant does not complete intake within 14 days of a claim, the attorney is automatically refunded and the lead is returned to the available leads pool.
Last updated: June 9, 2026
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