Named with permission
Organisation and/or individual is named under explicit, informed and revocable permission within agreed limits.
Research ethics
Research participation, consent and anonymisation
A practical protocol for collecting useful buyer–supplier learning without treating removal of names as automatic anonymity.
One relationship can involve several different permissions
A participant may agree to receive support without agreeing to research. A research participant may agree to aggregated findings but not a named case study. A project may appear in the registry while customer or employee evidence remains confidential.
Market Accord therefore separates service administration, research participation, registry publication, case-study permission, marketing contact and commercial referral.
Publication routes
Choose the least exposing route that remains useful.
The route can change where re-identification or commercial harm becomes more likely.
Organisation named, people protected
The organisation is public but individuals, roles or sensitive details are reduced where unnecessary.
Broadly anonymised
Sector, size and geography are generalised; dates and values are banded; rare combinations are removed.
Aggregated cohort
Findings are combined so one participant cannot reasonably be isolated from the published result.
Delayed release
Publication waits until procurement, employment, commercial or personal sensitivity has reduced.
No publication
Evidence informs private improvement only because useful public release cannot be made safe or lawful.
Research record
Every study should be able to answer:
- What decision or public question does this research serve?
- Who supplied the data and under what relationship?
- What was observed, reported, inferred or generated automatically?
- What lawful basis and consent routes apply?
- Who could be identified or harmed by release?
- What transformations reduce re-identification?
- What evidence level and limitations should readers see?
- Who reviewed the decision and when must it be reconsidered?
Sources and scrutiny
Anonymisation guidance
These sources support the factual context. Market Accord's interpretation is identified separately and should be read with its stated limitations.
- How do we ensure anonymisation is effective? Information Commissioner's Office · 2025-01-01 · regulatory guidance Open source
Share evidence without surrendering control.
Describe the source and sensitivity first. Market Accord will not request confidential documents through a public form and will agree the route before substantive material is transferred.