Citation Policy

Integrity, objectivity, and strict adherence to rigorous research methodologies are core values at Forrester Research, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Forrester”). All research created by Forrester, including syndicated (“Syndicated Research”) and commissioned research (“Custom Research”), as well as AI-generated responses from Izola, is intended to be used internally by our clients (“Syndicated Research” and “Custom Research” referred to collectively herein as “Research”). Clients and third parties may, however, wish to cite from the Research in internal and external materials. Below are the guidelines that serve as rules to follow when citing or otherwise using the Research internally and externally:

 

 

Guidelines Based On Content

 

Guidelines Based On Usage

Introduction

  • All use of Forrester Research is subject to our review and approval (except for the press and clients in limited form).
  • Citation of Forrester’s Research is a client privilege reserved for Forrester clients and companies that have purchased a license for the specific Syndicated Research they are citing. Forrester reviews all non-client requests on a case-by-case basis.
  • Forrester reserves the right to change these guidelines at any time without notice.
  • These guidelines are for general informational purposes only and Forrester reserves any and all rights to the Forrester Research including but not limited to the right to deny any and all uses of the Forrester Research.
  • For more information on this Policy, please view the FAQ.

Uses That Require Forrester’s Approval

  • All external or commercial citation of Research and Custom Research, including without limitation:
    • Use of the Research in all types of media (e.g., advertisements, social media, press releases, blogs, white papers, and sales collateral).
    • Uses of the Research in SEC filings or other legal documents.
    • Links to any websites maintained by Forrester and/or its subsidiaries.
  • All full reproductions and/or distributions of the Forrester Research. Forrester generally prohibits such use unless reprints are purchased from Forrester or the client has received Forrester’s express written permission.
  • All promotion, distribution, and reuse of Forrester content, including any use of Forrester’s logo, trademarks, or service marks, through any third party in all types of media.

Uses That Do Not Require Forrester’s Approval

  • Clients may include a copy or slide of each scorecard, product comparison, spreadsheet, graphic, table, or portion of text less than a paragraph from the Research or less than a paragraph from an Izola response in internal presentations only, provided that all such citations adhere to the guidelines for citation of Forrester’s syndicated Research and contractual provisions.
  • Members of the press may use portions of our Research without our approval. Please visit the Media Resources page for more information.

Dos and Don’ts Guidance

Forrester has several helpful guides for citing Research in specific types of materials (e.g., social media, blogs, press releases, emails, etc.). These include guidance on citing and promoting Forrester Wave™ reports, Custom Research, analyst engagements, and more.

How To Seek Forrester’s Approval

  • Contact Forrester’s Citations department at citations@forrester.com or 1 617-613-5700. Provide the Citations department with the full citation and context for your request.
  • Please include a draft copy of any press releases and other marketing materials, such as newsletters, email campaigns, direct mail, etc.
  • Citations will reply by email within two business days.
  • The Citations Request Checklist is a helpful guide for gathering the necessary materials and following the review process.

Citations Request Checklist

In order to assist our clients with the citations process, we have created a checklist for their use. This checklist outlines the information and materials that the Citations department needs to review a request.

 

Please use this checklist to assist you with the citations process. This checklist outlines the information and materials the Citations department needs to review your request.

  1. State the company/organization that the request is for.
  2. State whether the company is a Forrester client, and indicate if the company has purchased a reprint license to the research being cited.
  3. Provide the full context in which the Forrester citation will appear. Examples of materials presented in their entirety to give the Citations department sufficient context include full drafts of press releases, mock-ups of web pages, entire emails, banners, social media posts, entire white papers, etc. Please attach and send (or link to with access provided) complete copies of the materials that will cite Forrester.
  4. Submit your copy (landing page, press release, blog, social media, etc.) in an editable format.
  5. Submit the copy that will appear on your graphics (ads, social media banners, email banners, etc.) in an editable format and with mock-ups included.
  6. If submitting material in a shared document, grant access to citations@forrester.com or make the link available to those receiving it.
  7. Indicate the research from Forrester that your material cites. Include the full title and publication month and year. If the citations do not come from research published on Forrester.com (for example, Custom Research), please send the original source document along with your request.
  8. If this material is related to an upcoming analyst engagement, indicate the analyst involved, as well as the type of engagement (e.g., a webinar, panel, event, video, etc.).
  9. Please indicate any specific time frames, deadlines, or special considerations in your initial request.

I. Citation Policy: Regulations

  • All syndicated Research produced by Forrester, including Forrester blog content accessed through the Forrester.com website, is proprietary to Forrester and subject to copyright and other intellectual property protections.
  • All external or commercial citation of Research is prohibited without the express written permission of Forrester’s Citations department.
  • All citations must be presented in accordance with Forrester’s core value of objectivity and its Integrity Policy.
  • All citations must be limited in scope, except as otherwise permitted pursuant to a contract or written agreement with Forrester. Full reproduction of the Research is prohibited.
  • Forrester analysts and consultants cannot provide verbal or direct quotes for client materials. Responses from Izola cannot be cited. All citations must come directly from the published Research.
  • All Forrester Research must be cited verbatim.
  • When no corresponding text is available, graphs or data can be briefly summarized in the appropriate context of and accurately reflecting the Research.
  • “Forrester,” “Forrester Wave™,” and other trademarks may not appear in the following instances: press release headers or subheaders; email subject lines; company email signatures; or company boilerplates. Forrester analyst and consultant names are not permitted to be used in email subject lines or signatures or in press release headers and subheads, excluding speaking engagements such as webinars, in which case the analyst or consultant must be identified as a guest or featured speaker.
  • Citations that negatively portray another company and/or its products or compare one company and/or its products with another may not be used. In addition, Research may not be cited in any material that negatively portrays another company and/or its products or compares one company and/or its products with another.
  • Graphical research analysis, such as Forrester Analytics data, may be cited upon gaining Forrester’s approval. Please reference Section II, Forrester Wave™ Research, for guidance on citations of graphics specific to the Forrester Wave™.
  • All citations of Research must be attributed in the following manner: Title, Forrester Research, Inc., Date.
  • All citations of Research must come from Research that has been published within the past 18 months, unless more recently published Research on the same topic and/or data is available.
  • All citations of Forrester Research must be obtained through legal means.
  • After purchasing reprint rights, clients may promote Forrester reprints provided that Forrester’s Citations department approves the marketing materials and that it is clear that the report is an independent research report.
  • Report reprints should be referenced as “complimentary” and without monetary association.
  • For guidance on usage of Reprints in specific types of materials, click here.
  • The Forrester logo or badges may be used in client materials but must be smaller than the client’s logo, less prominently displayed than the client’s logo, and cannot be horizontally aligned with the client’s logo.
  • When describing Forrester, the preferred language to use is “a leading global research and advisory firm.”
  • Forrester’s boilerplate cannot be used in any client materials.

Guidelines Based On Content

II. Forrester Wave™ Research

  • All citations of Forrester Wave™ Research are subject to Forrester’s Citation Policy, including the Regulations set forth in Section I above.
  • For guidance on usage of Wave citations in specific types of materials, click here.
  • Companies may only claim to be a Leader/Strong Performer/Contender/Challenger when citing their placement in a Forrester Wave™. Companies cannot claim to be a Leader/Strong Performer/Contender/Challenger in a specific criterion or category.
  • Companies may use wording such as “highest score” or “top ranked” only when citing their Strategy, Current Offering, and/or Market Presence category results from the Forrester Wave™.
  • Companies may draw attention to the detailed results in the Forrester Wave™ underlying spreadsheet, including sub-criteria, but cannot distribute the full spreadsheet.
  • Companies may compare their scores with the high and low scores of the category, but direct comparisons with specific vendors or products are not allowed.
  • All citations must be based on Forrester’s weightings. Clients may not publicly cite or display custom scores from the Forrester Wave™ scorecards.
  • The Forrester Wave™ graphic can only be used in the below two instances. All other usages are prohibited:
    • Clients with reprint rights to a Forrester Wave™ report or vendor summary containing the Forrester Wave™ graphic may display the entire, unaltered Forrester Wave™ graphic on their website home page (provided it links back to access to the authorized reprint) or as part of a web page exclusively dedicated to the authorized reprint of the report. All other online uses are prohibited.
    • Clients may use the Forrester Wave™ graphic in presentations to live audiences, as long as the graphic is shown in its entirety, unaltered, and with the original title and date of publication.
      • The following disclaimer must be legible on the slide:
        • The Forrester Wave™ is copyrighted by Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester and Forrester Wave™ are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. The Forrester Wave™ is a graphical representation of Forrester’s call on a market and is plotted using a detailed spreadsheet with exposed scores, weightings, and comments. Forrester does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in the Forrester Wave™. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change.

 

Companies with reprint rights to a Forrester Wave™ report and that are identified as a “Leader” or a “Strong Performer” in the report may use the Forrester Wave™ Leader badge or Strong Performer badge subject to and in accordance with the guidelines outlined in section VI. Forrester Logo And Badges.

III. Commissioned Custom Research

  • All citations of Custom Research, including, without limitation, commissioned research, custom surveys, and/or findings within Research customized for the client, are subject to this Citation Policy, including the regulations set forth in Section I above and other contractual limitations. Each external citation or quotation of Custom Research must be submitted to and approved by Forrester’s Citations department.
  • Forrester must review and approve the context and accuracy of any data/conclusions cited from Custom Research as part of this approval process.
  • All citations must come directly from the Custom Research itself. Forrester analysts, advisors, and consultants cannot provide verbal or direct quotes for client materials.
  • All citations of Custom Research must be attributed to Forrester Consulting, and the citations must include the following attribution, as well as the date and title if applicable:
  • “A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of [Client Name], [month, year of publication]”
  • Forrester Consulting is the only author cited for Custom Research. Custom Research may not be attributed in any way to a Forrester analyst or consultant.
  • Excluding Total Economic Impact™ studies, Custom Research about specific companies and/or products is for internal usage only and cannot be cited externally. Permitted citations related to Total Economic Impact™ studies are subject to contractual terms.
  • Custom Research may not be positioned in any way that implies Forrester is endorsing any company, product, or brand.
  • Custom Research cannot appear to be jointly released or co-branded with the client. Forrester’s status as an independent research firm must be made clear.
  • To cite from Custom Research that was not commissioned by your own company, the client that commissioned the research must provide you with written approval prior to submitting the request to Forrester’s Citations department for approval.
  • Statements made by Forrester analysts/consultants during client webinars, podcasts, videos, or other recorded presentations associated with Custom Research may not be cited, translated, or transcribed except for accessibility purposes, in which case the transcript can be made available alongside the full recording.
  • For guidance on promoting and citing Custom Research in specific types of materials, click here.

IV: Social Media Content

With the Citations department’s review and approval, third parties may cite noncomparative content from Forrester blogs and other Forrester social channels as long as the integrity of the posted content is maintained and the content is linked directly to the original source. All citations must come from content written within the past 18 months. All requests to cite research content authored by Forrester analysts under their own social profile will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

  • For proposed citations of our published Research within the client’s social media, please refer to Section I. Citation Policy: Regulations and Section II. Forrester Wave™ Research above.

How to cite Forrester Research social media content:

  • Each citation must clearly define the social channel (e.g., Forrester blog).
  • Each citation must state the date of the Forrester analyst’s post.
  • Each citation should include the author (analyst) of the citation.
  • Each citation must include the Forrester reference verbatim and link to the source/post in its entirety.
  • Each blog citation should include the title of the original Forrester blog post.

V: Customer Experience Index (CX Index™)

  • In order to cite your company’s Customer Experience Index score, ranking, award, or quotes from Forrester’s Customer Experience Index reports, your company must purchase a CX Index™ advertising license (“ad license”).
  • All citations of Forrester’s Customer Experience Index research are subject to Forrester’s Citation Policy, including the Regulations set forth in Section I above.
  • Forrester clients without an ad license are permitted to state in a press release only that they were included in Forrester’s Customer Experience Index survey.
    Example: Company B was included in Forrester Research’s survey for the report “The US Customer Experience Index Rankings, 2023.”
  • Citation of rankings without the purchase of an ad license is expressly prohibited.
  • Only the 2015 or later CX Index™ can be cited. References to scores or rankings prior to 2015 are not permitted.
  • The CX Index™ badge can be used by Forrester clients with an ad license as long as it is smaller than, less prominently displayed than, and not horizontally aligned with the client’s logo in the material.

VI: Forrester Logo And Badges

  • Use of the Forrester logo is a client privilege. Use of Forrester badges requires the purchase of reprint or ad rights to the specific report.
  • For guidance on using the Forrester logo in specific types of materials, click here.
  • Use of the Forrester logo or badges is subject to Citations department review and approval.
  • The Forrester logo or badges must be accompanied by a research citation to avoid the perception of an endorsement. Forrester badges may only be used for the duration for which the ad license or reprint license is active.
  • The Forrester logo or badges may be used in client materials but must be smaller, less prominently displayed, and not horizontally aligned with the client’s logo.
  • The Forrester logo or badges may not be used in client press releases or email signatures.
  • Clients may use Forrester’s logo to promote analyst speaking engagements, provided the logo is smaller, less prominently displayed, and not horizontally aligned with the client’s logo. The Forrester logo must also have “Featuring” or “Guest Speaker” above it.
  • To download Forrester logo files, click here.

Guidelines Based On Usage

VII: Advertisements

  • All citations must comply with Section I. Citation Policy: Regulations.
  • Advertisements shall not appear to be co-sponsored by Forrester. Services or products advertised shall not appear to be endorsed by Forrester.
  • All requests must include the location and placement of the advertisement during the review process and what it will link to.

VIII: Press Releases

  • All citations must comply with Section I. Citation Policy: Regulations.
  • Please reference Section II. Forrester Wave™ Research for any guidance on citations for press releases specific to the Forrester Wave™.
  • “Forrester”, Forrester Wave™,” and other trademarks may not appear in press release headers and subheaders.
  • Forrester branding, including logo and badges, cannot be used in client press releases.
  • Verbal quotes from videos may not be cited or repurposed.

IX: Webinar/Speaking Engagements/Video

  • All citations must comply with Section I. Citation Policy: Regulations.
  • Clients may use Forrester’s logo to promote analyst speaking engagements, provided the logo is smaller, less prominently displayed, and not horizontally aligned with the client’s logo. See Forrester’s logo usage guidelines here.
  • Forrester’s slides must contain Forrester’s copyright notice.
  • It must be clear that Forrester is a guest/featured speaker/presenter and that Forrester is not co-hosting or co-marketing the event.
  • Research presented and statements made by Forrester analysts/consultants during client webinars, podcasts, videos, or other recorded presentations may not be cited, translated, or transcribed (except for accessibility purposes), in which case the transcript can be made available alongside the full recording.
  • Recordings may only be replayed in their entirety, when both the audio and visual elements are presented together and the appropriate replay rights have been purchased.
  • For guidance on promoting a webinar/speaking engagement in specific types of materials, click here.

Violations

Forrester reserves the right to take action against companies that violate its Citation Policy. Actions taken may include but are not limited to declining all citation requests from companies with active citations violations.

If you have questions about what constitutes a violation or believe that you have found a violation, please contact the Citations department for further assistance.