Genealogical Proof Standard

The Genealogical Proof Standard is the foundation for establishing best practices for genealogical research. They enable all genealogists to come as close as possible to knowing what actually happened in history. The following standards were developed by the US Board for Certification of Genealogists (BGC).

While I am not a member of the BCG, I have adopted these standards, as well as their published Genealogist Code of Conduct, in my research work.

Following these standards helps both professional and amateur family historians research thoroughly, document properly, analyze, and correlate evidence, resolve conflicts, and write clear and convincing genealogical reports and summaries.

There are five elements to the Genealogical Proof Standard:

• Research has been reasonably exhaustive
  • that at least two independently-created sources are in agreement
  • that you have looked at all sources competent researchers would examine for that particular question
  • that you have included some primary information
  • that you have included some original records (ie. original birth certificate vs transcription)
  • that you have used the primary and original documents where these are findable instead of relying on transcriptions or derived primary sources which reference the primary source. (What are Primary & Derived (secondary) Sources?)
  • that you use all findable sources listed in an index or mentioned in a related source.

• Information has been analysed and corroborated
• Conflicting evidence has been resolved
• Sources have been cited or referenced
• A reasoned conclusion has been created
  • There are three options for presenting a conclusion and which one you choose will depend on the complexity of the question and answer.
    • A proof statement: this could be a sentence contained within a larger report on a family or a piece of data.
    • A proof summary: this could be one or more written pages containing lists or narratives stating facts that support or lead to your conclusion
    • A proof argument: this is a documented narrative that contains an explanation of why the answer given to a problem should be considered to be proven.

Examples: https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-the-genealogical-proof-standard-how-simple-can-it-be/

Any proof statement should be open to re-evaluation as, if, or when, new evidence arises. 

More information about the Genealogical Proof Standard can be found on the Board for Certification of Genealogists website.