Editorial standards
The OT Index publishes rankings only when the source basis, scoring logic, data boundaries, and reader decision are clear enough to understand.
Publishing standard
Serious rankings and news articles need more than a table or headline. Readers should see who published the page, what sources were used, what the evidence can show, and how data gaps affect a school, job, relocation, employer, policy, or software decision.
Rankings and news analysis start with public datasets, official directories, licensing or certification bodies, journal articles, payer policies, and vendor or provider source pages. Editorial interpretation is labeled separately from official data.
News articles show clear dates, newsroom bylines, source links, publisher details, and correction routes so readers can evaluate who published the analysis and what evidence supports it.
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, score factors, follow-up notes, and next questions to ask.
Unavailable source fields, unmatched outcome rows, small cohorts, and profile limitations are called out instead of hidden inside a score.
Rankings are not sold. Sponsorships, affiliate relationships, vendor partnerships, and paid placements must be labeled and kept separate from editorial scoring.
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.
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
The same discipline applies across school rankings, salary tables, state and city markets, home health agencies, specialties, and documentation tools.
Independence
Sponsored tools, employer profiles, and partner resources are handled separately from ranking placement. Paid relationships cannot determine where an organization ranks.