Primary sources come first
Rankings start with public datasets, official directories, licensing or certification bodies, and vendor or provider source pages. Editorial interpretation is labeled separately from official data.
Editorial standards
How The OT Index earns reader trust.
The OT Index publishes rankings only when the source basis, scoring logic, limitations, and reader decision are visible enough to audit.
SourcesScoringCorrectionsIndependenceUpdates
Publishing standard
A ranking is not finished until the reader can challenge it.
Serious rankings need more than a table. Readers should see what the score uses, what it does not use, and what they should verify before making a school, job, relocation, employer, or software decision.
Scores must explain the decision
A rank is useful only if it helps a reader choose a program, setting, city, employer, specialty, or tool. Each ranking states the source basis, weights, caveats, and next questions to ask.
Missing data is disclosed
Unavailable source fields, unmatched outcome rows, small cohorts, and profile limitations are called out instead of hidden inside a score.
Commercial influence is separated
Rankings are not sold. Any future sponsorship, affiliate relationship, vendor partnership, or paid placement must be labeled and kept separate from editorial scoring.
Updates are tied to source cadence
BLS, NBCOT, ACOTE, CMS, College Scorecard, and vendor pages update on different cycles. Ranking pages show freshness and are refreshed when source systems change materially.
Corrections should improve the record
If a source row is wrong, stale, mismatched, or misinterpreted, the ranking should be corrected with the same source discipline used to publish it.
Review process
What happens before a ranking goes live
The same discipline applies across school rankings, salary tables, state and city markets, home health agencies, specialties, and documentation tools.
- 1Identify the reader decision and the source systems that can legitimately inform it.
- 2Separate official fields from The OT Index scoring and editorial context.
- 3Apply visible weighting rules and disclose source limits before publishing.
- 4Link ranking rows to profiles, guides, methodology notes, and primary sources where available.
- 5Recheck language for reader-facing clarity instead of internal roadmap language.
Independence
Rankings are editorial products
The OT Index may eventually publish sponsored tools, employer profiles, or partner resources, but paid relationships cannot determine ranking placement.