CIRQ (the Certification Institute for Research Quality) reported a significant surge in ISO 20252 certifications during 2025, reflecting growing industry demand for globally recognized quality standards in research project management.
ISO 20252 establishes internationally accepted terms, definitions, and service requirements for managing research projects. The standard is designed to ensure transparent, consistent, well-documented, and error-free methods of conducting and managing research across organizations worldwide.
Much of the increased certification activity was driven by Procter & Gamble’s decision to require its quantitative online sample providers to be certified to ISO 20252 by July 1, 2025. As a result, CIRQ certified 12 new organizations to the ISO 20252 during the year – they are:
+ Ipsos + NIQ Bases (Nielsen) + L&E Research + quantilope + MarketVision Research + Toluna
+ Behaviorally + Dig Insights + PureSpectrumUK + Radius GMR +1Q + InnovateMR
“The sharp increase in ISO 20252 certifications in 2025 signals a meaningful shift in how our industry defines credibility and accountability,” said Alexandrine de Montera, Board Chair of CIRQ and Chief Product Officer and ISO Quality Officer at Full Circle Research. “Certification is no longer viewed as a ‘nice to have’. It is increasingly recognized as an operational commitment to disciplined processes, documented controls, and defensible data quality. As client expectations and regulatory scrutiny continue to rise, ISO 20252 provides a common, globally recognized framework that enables trust, transparency, and consistency across the research ecosystem.”
The increase in certifications underscores a broader shift within the research industry toward standardized processes that support data integrity, operational transparency, and client confidence.
“At Procter & Gamble, we believe that the right decisions start with the right data. Requiring ISO 20252 certification for our online quantitative suppliers was a deliberate step to drive consistent project management, documented controls, and greater transparency across our research ecosystem,” said Megan Budzynski, Director, Human & Behavioral Sciences, Procter & Gamble. “As data sources and methodologies continue to evolve, globally recognized standards like ISO 20252 help create a shared foundation of trust, quality, and accountability that benefits brands, suppliers, and ultimately the consumers we serve.”
CIRQ works closely with organizations throughout the certification process to ensure requirements are clearly understood and effectively implemented across research operations. Its auditors have in-depth knowledge of market research and insights and analytics company operations.
“CIRQ has served the market research and data analytics industry for 15 years. The substantial increase in ISO 20252 certifications made 2025 our most productive to date and demonstrated our critical role in providing impartial, thorough, and trusted audits resulting in valuable certifications,” said Juliana Wood, Managing Director at CIRQ. “P&G’s commitment to ISO 20252 requirements for its online quantitative sample providers proves that the industry as a whole is focused on improved data quality, trust, transparency and consistency across the entire research landscape.”
In addition to ISO 20252 certifications, CIRQ also certified several organizations to ISO/IEC 27001, the international standard for information security management systems, during 2025. Newly ISO 27001-certified companies include Arcos Medical, QuantCo, Qlarity Access, OvationMR, Totara Learning, and InnovateMR.
Together, the growth in ISO 20252 and ISO 27001 certifications reflects increasing emphasis across the research ecosystem on quality management, data security, and accountability in response to evolving client and regulatory expectations.