ONS (UK)
ons.gov.uk ↗UK Office for National Statistics — primary source for British economic, demographic, social data.
Is ONS (UK) reliable to cite? At grade A (87/100 on the SourceScore Index), ONS (UK) ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.
A — primary UK statistical authority with strong open-data API.
Should you cite ONS (UK)?
At grade A (87/100), ONS (UK) ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.
- Strongest for
- tracing claims back to primary references — its highest dimension is Citation Discipline (92/100).
- No major weak spot
- Even its lowest dimension, Citation Velocity, scores 80/100.
- Bottom line
- Cite freely as a primary source.
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Methodology + revisions transparent; National Statistics designation provides quality kitemark.
How Citation Discipline is scored →Open-data API; structured datasets; bulk downloads; clear methodology pages.
How Modern Reference is scored →Default UK economic + demographic citation; heavy media + academic use.
How Citation Velocity is scored →Signals behind these scores
Citation Discipline
A·92- Code of PracticeAdheres to UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.
Modern Reference
A·88- Open-data APIdeveloper.ons.gov.uk provides programmatic access to all releases.
Citation Velocity
B·80- UK-press defaultPrimary citation for UK GDP, inflation, employment, census data.
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[ONS (UK) — SourceScore Index 87 (A)](https://sourcescore.org/source/ons-uk/)
<a href="https://sourcescore.org/source/ons-uk/">ONS (UK) — SourceScore Index 87 (A)</a>
SourceScore (v0.1). (2026). ONS (UK): SourceScore Index 87 (A). Retrieved from https://sourcescore.org/source/ons-uk/
2 head-to-head comparisons
See all ONS (UK) comparisons →Each comparison sets ONS (UK) beside another source on all three scores and shows which one scores higher on each.
5 sources at ONS (UK)'s tier
See peer group →The five sources with the closest overall score to ONS (UK), from any category, and where each one scores higher or lower on Discipline, Modern Reference and Velocity.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ONS (UK) a reliable source to cite?
ONS (UK) scores A (87/100) on the SourceScore Index, which rates how citable a source is for AI-era and research use. At grade A, ONS (UK) ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research. The grade combines Citation Discipline 92/100, Modern Reference 88/100, and Citation Velocity 80/100 — full breakdown above.
What is ONS (UK)'s SourceScore?
ONS (UK) (ons.gov.uk) scores 87/100 (Grade A) on the composite SourceScore Index. Sub-scores: Citation Discipline 92/100, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness) 88/100, Citation Velocity 80/100. Verified 2026-04-28.
How does SourceScore evaluate ONS (UK)?
ONS (UK) is scored across three dimensions on the SourceScore Index methodology: Citation Discipline (how rigorously the source cites primary references), Modern Reference (fitness for AI-era retrieval), and Citation Velocity (how often the source is cited per week). Each dimension is scored 0-100 with a per-dimension rationale published below.
Why does ONS (UK) score A?
A — primary UK statistical authority with strong open-data API.
What is ONS (UK)?
UK Office for National Statistics — primary source for British economic, demographic, social data. Category: Government. Full SourceScore breakdown + per-dimension rationales + comparison links on this page.