Table of Contents
The COUNTER audit procedures and tests set out in this Appendix seek to ensure that the usage reports provided by content providers are in line with the COUNTER Code of Practice and follow uniform agreed procedures. To this end, the COUNTER audit seeks to mirror the activity of an institution (a customer) carrying out usage on the content provider’s platform.
Two broad categories must be taken into account for usage statistics reporting, and each has additional audit requirements. These categories are:
No two third-party hosts/vendors are exactly alike. Prior to the audit each must discuss with COUNTER how they provide usage statistics reporting so that COUNTER can advise which of the two categories above applies to them.
There are three stages in the COUNTER audit:
COUNTER defines specific audit test-scripts for each of the COUNTER-required usage reports. Because content providers may work with different auditors, the test-scripts help to ensure that each auditor follows a common auditing procedure.
The COUNTER auditor cannot express an opinion as to usage reported in respect of any other accounts or institutions, or as to aspects of the COUNTER Code of Practice, not specifically tested. Release 5-compliant content providers are reminded, however, that their signed Declaration of COUNTER compliance also covers these aspects of the COUNTER Code of Practice.
To maintain COUNTER-compliant status an independent audit is required within 6 months of a content provider being listed in the Register of COUNTER Compliant Content Providers and annually thereafter. (Excepted are content providers that are members of COUNTER in the Smaller Publisher category, which may be audited biennially, with permission from COUNTER). Failure to meet these audit requirements will result in a content provider losing its COUNTER-compliant status.
If COUNTER does not receive a satisfactory auditor’s report within the specified time, the following control procedures apply:
New content providers having signed the Declaration of Compliance:
6 months after signing | A reminder from COUNTER that the first auditor’s report is required |
8 months after signing | A final reminder from COUNTER that the first auditor’s report is required |
9 months after signing | The content provider is removed from the registry and is notified by COUNTER that they are non-compliant and must not make reference to COUNTER or use the COUNTER logo. |
Content providers previously audited:
3 months following the due audit date | A reminder from COUNTER that an auditor’s report is required |
2 months following the due audit date | A further reminder from COUNTER that an auditor’s report is required |
5 months following the due audit date | A final reminder from the Chair of the COUNTER Executive Committee that an auditor’s report is required |
6 months following the due audit date | The content provider is removed from the registry and is notified by COUNTER that they are non-compliant and must not make reference to COUNTER or use the COUNTER logo. |
Independent audits are required for COUNTER reports according to host type(s). See Table 1 (below).
Table 1: COUNTER Reports Requiring Audit
Category | Report ID (for SUSHI) | R5 Report Name | Master Report / Standard View | Host Type |
Platform | PR | Platform Master Report | Master | All |
Platform | PR_P1 | Platform Usage | Standard View | All |
Database | DR | Database Master Report | Master | – Aggregated Full Content – A&I Database – Discovery Service – eBook Collections – Multimedia Collection |
Database | DR_D1 | Database Searches and Item Usage | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – A&I Database – Discovery Service – eBook Collections – Multimedia Collection |
Database | DR_D2 | Database Access Denied | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – A&I Database – Discovery Service – eBook Collections – Multimedia Collection |
Title | TR | Title Master Report | Master | – Aggregated Full Content – eBooks – eBook Collections – eJournals |
Title | TR_B1 | Book Requests (excluding OA_Gold) | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – eBooks – eBook Collections |
Title | TR_B2 | Book Access Denied | Standard View | – eBooks – eBook Collections |
Title | TR_B3 | Book Usage by Access Type | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – eBooks – eBook Collections |
Title | TR_J1 | Journal Requests (excluding OA_Gold) | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – eJournals |
Title | TR_J2 | Journal Access Denied | Standard View | – eJournals |
Title | TR_J3 | Journal Usage by Access Type | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – eJournals |
Title | TR_J4 | Journal Requests by YOP (excluding OA_Gold) | Standard View | – Aggregated Full Content – eJournals |
Item | IR | Item Master Report | Master | – Data Repository – Multimedia Collection – Repository – Scholarly Collaboration Network |
Item | IR_A1 | Journal Article Requests | Standard View | – Repository |
Item | IR_M1 | Multimedia Item Requests | Standard View | – Multimedia Collection |
COUNTER defines a reporting period as a calendar month. A report run for any given month MUST reflect all activity of a customer for the entire month in question.
This applies also to auditing activity. An auditor should always finalize the audit tests within one and the same calendar month. During the audit period, all activity on the audit accounts not instigated by the auditor should be prevented, as this will make the test reports unreliable and may result in further audit tests that may incur additional costs.
To prevent any collision of reported data, an auditor should be allowed to set up and maintain separate accounts for each of the audit tests. All accounts should be set up in such a way that only the auditor carrying out a test can access the content provider’s platform.
Prior to the audit, the content provider must supply to the auditor:
If the auditor identifies one or more issues, the content provider MUST resolve them and pass the audit within 3 months to maintain COUNTER-compliant status. Please see section 9.2 in the COUNTER Code of Practice.
The auditor will provide to the COUNTER Executive Committee a summary report including, as a minimum, the following information:
Sample Audit Report:
Content Provider | <name> | |||||||
Audit Period | <mmm/yyyy> | Date | <mmm/yyyy> | |||||
Report |
Usage Activity Result |
Report Format |
Data Integrity |
Delivery |
Opinion |
Comments |
||
Tabular | SUSHI | Reports Interface | SUSHI
Server |
|||||
TR_J1 | 100% | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS | |
TR_B1 | 112% | PASS | REPORT TOTALS included | PASS | PASS | PASS | FAIL | SUSHI versions of reports must not have totals. |
A content provider may need to submit multiple audit reports, some of which may PASS and some of which may FAIL. The results of each report’s tests should be submitted on a separate line. For a content provider to maintain COUNTER-compliant status, each audited report must PASS.
The auditor will confirm that each of the audit reports complies with the COUNTER Code of Practice.
The following items will be checked:
The audit-test must be conducted in such a way that the auditor’s activities during the audit-test can be isolated from other activities on the content provider’s site. Depending on the site being tested, the auditor must conduct the audit-test from a computer with a unique IP address and/or using a unique account number.
The auditor must accept user/machine and session cookies when prompted.
Master Report: PR
The Platform Master Report will be COUNTER-compliant if the following Standard View passes the COUNTER Audit and the figures reported within it are matching what is reported in the Master Report.
Standard View: PR_P1
Platform Usage: A Standard View of the Platform Master Report offering platform-level usage summarized by Metric_Type.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
The auditor must run 100 searches on the platform, including 50 searches against only 1 selected database, 25 against 2 selected databases, and 25 against all databases. Each of these searches must report 1 Searches_Platform in the PR_P1 Standard View.
Option 2: Platform has multiple databases, and it is possible to search over all databases or a single database.
The auditor must run 100 searches on the platform, including 50 searches against only 1 selected database and 50 against all databases. Each of these searches must report 1 Searches_Platform in the PR_P1 Standard View.
Option 3: Platform has a single database.
The auditor must run 50 searches on the platform, with all 50 searches run against the 1 database. Each of these searches must report 1 Searches_Platform in the PR_P1 Standard View.
The auditor must make a total of 100 requests on a subset of the unique items made available to them, including 50 requests against items not within titles (if available) and 50 requests against items within titles (if available).
If the platform does not have content that is within a title, then all 100 requests must be made to items within titles.
Each title must have 5 Items requested within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Requests, 5 Unique_Item_Requests, and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
It may not be possible to know which Title the Item being requested belongs to prior to the delivery of the Item. In this case, the titles containing the Item must be noted by the auditor upon request. This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests and 100 Unique_Item_Requests in the PR_P1 Standard View.
The Unique_Title_Requests being reported in the PR_P1 Standard View will be determined by the number of unique titles noted by the auditor during the testing.
Option 2: Platform has multiple databases that do not include titles.
The auditor must make 100 requests on a subset of the unique items made available to them.
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests and 100 Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the PR_P1 Standard View. The number of Unique_Title_Requests being reported will be 0.
Option 3: Platform has a single database, which includes titles.
The auditor must make 50 requests on items made available to them, including 25 requests against items not within titles (if available) and 25 requests against Items within titles (if available).
If the platform does not have content that is within a Title, then all 50 requests must be made to Items within titles.
Each title must have 5 Items requested within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Requests, 5 Unique_Item_Requests, and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
It may not be possible to know which Title the Item being requested belongs to prior to the delivery of the Item. In this case, the titles containing the Item must be noted by the auditor upon request.
This must result in 50 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the PR_P1 Standard View.
The Unique_Title_Requests being reported in the PR_P1 Standard View will be determined by the number of unique titles noted by the auditor during the testing.
Option 4: Platform has a single database, which does not include titles.
The auditor must make 50 requests on items made available to them.
This must result in 50 Total_Item_Requests and 50 Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the PR_P1 Standard View. The number of Unique_Title_Requests being reported will be 0.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Requests and 15 Unique_Item_Requests in the PR_P1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests and 15 Unique_Item_Requests in the PR_P1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Master Report: DR
The Database Master Report will be COUNTER-compliant if the following Standard Views pass the COUNTER audits and the figures reported within them match what is reported in the Master Report.
Any Standard View that is not applicable to the content provider does not require auditing. This must be agreed prior to the audit by COUNTER.
Standard View: DR_D1
Databases Searches and Item Usage: Reports on key search and request metrics needed to evaluate a database.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
The auditor must run 100 searches, including 50 against only 1 selected database, 25 against 2 selected databases, and 25 against all databases (without actively choosing).
Each of these searches on a single database must report 1 Searches_Regular in the DR_D1 Standard View.
Each of these searches over 2 databases must report 1 Searches_Regular against each of the selected databases in the DR_D1 Standard View.
Each of these searches over all databases must report 1 Searches_Automated against each of the databases offered by the content provider in the DR_D1 Standard View.
Option 2: The content provider has multiple databases, and it is possible to search over all databases or a single database.
The auditor must run 100 searches, including 50 against only 1 selected database and 50 against all databases (without actively choosing).
Each of these searches on a single database must report 1 Searches_Regular in the DR_D1 Standard View.
Each of these searches over all databases must report 1 Searches_Automated against each of the databases offered by the content provider in the DR_D1 Standard View.
Option 3: The content provider has a single database.
The auditor must run 50 searches against the 1 database. Each of these searches must report 1 Searches_Regular in the DR_D1 Standard View.
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests reported in the DR_D1 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the DR_D1 Standard View.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the DR_D1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test does not need to be carried out where the content provider does not offer Investigations that are not also Requests. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Investigations.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test does not need to be carried out where the Content provider does not offer Investigations that are not also Requests. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Investigations being reported in the DR_D1 Standard View.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Investigations being reported in the DR_D1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Total_Item_Requests must match Total_Item_Investigations
Standard View: DR_D2
Databases Access Denied: Reports on access-denied activity for databases where users were denied access because simultaneous-user licenses were exceeded, or their institution did not have a license for the database.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test cannot be carried out if the content provider does not offer a concurrent/simultaneous user limit. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor will log into the site. This means that the user limit is at maximum active users.
The auditor will then attempt to log into the site using a different computer. The auditor should then be refused access because of exceeding the concurrent/simultaneous-user limit. Each time access is refused, the auditor will record this as Limit_Exceeded.
The auditor must force 50 Limit_Exceeded turnaways during testing.
Each of these concurrent/simultaneous turnaways must report 1 Limit_Exceeded in the DR_D2 Standard View.
Option 2: The content provider turns the user away when the concurrent/simultaneous user limit is exceeded upon searching or accessing a database.
The auditor will log into the site. This means that the user limit is at maximum active users. The user will then select and make a search on a database (or browse to a database).
The auditor will then log into the site using a different computer. The auditor will then repeat the action made on the previous computer (select and make a search on a database or browse to a database). After the search has been made (or database browsed to) the user should then be refused access because of exceeding the concurrent/simultaneous-user limit. Each time access is refused, the auditor will record this as Limit_Exceeded.
The auditor must force 50 Limit_Exceeded turnaways during testing.
Each of these concurrent/simultaneous turnaways must report 1 Limit_Exceeded in the DR_D2 Standard View.
Option 3: The content provider turns the user away when the concurrent/simultaneous-user limit is exceeded upon accessing an Item within a database.
The auditor will log into the site. This means that the user limit is at maximum active users. The user will then navigate to and request an Item.
The auditor will then log into the site using a different computer. The auditor will then repeat the action made on the previous computer (navigate to and request an Item). After the Item has been requested the user should then be refused access because of exceeding the concurrent/simultaneous-user limit. Each time access is refused, the auditor will record this as Limit_Exceeded.
The auditor must force 50 Limit_Exceeded turnaways during testing.
Each of these concurrent/simultaneous turnaways must report 1 Limit_Exceeded in the DR_D2 Standard View.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test cannot be carried out if the content provider does not restrict site content or if restricted content is not displayed. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor must force 50 No_License turnaways during testing.
Each of these “No License” turnaways must report 1 No_License in the DR_D2 Standard View.
Master Report: TR
The Title Master Report will be COUNTER-compliant if the following Standard Views pass the COUNTER audits and the figures reported within them match what is reported in the Master Report.
Any Standard View that is not applicable to the content provider does not require auditing, this must be agreed prior to the audit by COUNTER.
Standard View: TR_B1
Book Requests (excluding OA_Gold): Reports on full-text activity for non-Gold open access books as Total_Item_Requests and Unique_Title_Requests. The Unique_Title_Requests view provides comparable usage across book platforms. The Total_Item_Requests view shows overall activity; however, numbers between sites will vary significantly based on how the content is delivered (e.g. delivered as a complete book or by chapter.)
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
Each title must have 5 Items requested within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Requests and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_B1 Standard View.
This must result in 20 Unique_Title_Requests being reported in the TR_B1 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out 16 inside tests.
Where possible, each title must have 2 Item tests within it (reporting 1 Total_Item_Requests and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 16 Total_Item_Requests and 8 Unique_Title_Requests in the TR_B1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The audit must carry out 16 outside tests.
Where possible, each title must have 2 Items requested within it (reporting 2 Total_Item_Requests and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests and 8 Unique_Title_Requests in the TR_B1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Standard View: TR_B2
Book Access Denied: Reports on access denied activity for books where users were denied access because simultaneous-user licenses were exceeded, or their institution did not have a license for the book.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test cannot be carried out if the content provider does not offer a concurrent/simultaneous user limit. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor will then log into the site using a different computer. The auditor will then repeat the action made on the previous computer (access a book item). After the item has been requested the user should then be refused access because of exceeding the concurrent/simultaneous user limit. Each time access is refused, the auditor will record this as Limit_Exceeded.
The auditor must force 50 Limit_Exceeded turnaways during testing.
Each of these concurrent/simultaneous turnaways must report 1 Limit_Exceeded in the TR_B2 Standard View.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test cannot be carried out if the content provider does not restrict site content or where restricted content is not displayed. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
Each of these Book content not licensed turnaways must report 1 No_License in the TR_B2 Standard View.
Standard View: TR_B3
Book Usage by Access Type: Reports on book usage showing all applicable metric types broken down by Access_Type
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
The auditor must make a total of 100 requests on a subset of unique Items within book titles (50 requests to book Items where the Access_Type is Controlled, and 50 requests to book items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
Each title must have 5 items requested within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Requests, 5 Unique_Item_Requests and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 50 OA_Gold Total_Item_Requests and 50 Controlled Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 50 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Requests and 50 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 10 OA_Gold Unique_Title_Requests and 10 Controlled Unique_Title_Requests being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold items.
The auditor must make a total of 100 requests on a subset of unique Items within book titles.
Where possible, each title must have 5 items requested within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Requests, 5 Unique_Item_Requests, and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 100 Controlled Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 100 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 20 Controlled Unique_Title_Requests being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out a total of 32 tests, and each test will consist of 2 requests. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 16 inside tests (8 tests to book items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 8 tests to book items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
Where possible, each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 2 Total_Item_Requests, 2 Unique_Item_Requests, and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 8 Controlled Total_Item_Requests and 8 OA_Gold Total_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests and 8 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 4 Controlled Unique_Title_Requests and 4 OA_Gold Unique_Title_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
(This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.)
The auditor must carry out 16 outside tests (8 tests to book items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 8 tests to book items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
Where possible, each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 4 Total_Item_Requests, 2 Unique_Item_Requests, and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 16 Controlled Total_Item_Requests and 16 OA_Gold Total_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests and 8 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 4 Controlled Unique_Title_Requests and 4 OA_Gold Unique_Title_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
(This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.)
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold Items.
The auditor must carry out a total of 32 tests, and each test will consist of 2 requests. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 16 inside tests.
Where possible, each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 2 Total_Item_Requests and 2 Unique_Item_Requests and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 16 Controlled Total_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 16 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Title_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
(This may not be the case if the Content provider operates a cache server.)
The auditor must carry out 16 outside tests.
Each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 4 Total_Item_Requests, 2 Unique_Item_Requests, and 1 Unique_Title_Requests).
This must result in 32 Controlled Total_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 16 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Title_Requests in the TR_B3 Standard View.
(This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.)
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test does not need to be carried out if the content provider does not offer investigations that are not also requests. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor must make a total of 50 item investigations within a subset of book titles (25 Investigations of items within a book where the Access_Type is Controlled, and 25 investigations of items within a book where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
Each title must have 5 investigations to unique Items within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Investigations, 5 Unique_Item_Investigations, and 1 Unique_Title_Investigations).
This must result in 25 OA_Gold Total_Item_Investigations and 25 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 25 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Investigations and 25 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 5 OA_Gold Unique_Title_Investigations and 5 Controlled Unique_Title_Investigations being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold Items.
The auditor must make a total of 50 Investigations within a subset of book titles.
Each title must have 5 investigations to unique items within it (reporting 5 Total_Item_Investigations, 5 Unique_Item_Investigations, and 1 Unique_Title_Investigations).
This must result in 50 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 50 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 10 Controlled Unique_Title_Investigations being reported in the TR_B3 Standard View.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test does not need to be carried out if the content provider does not offer investigations that are not also requests. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor must carry out a total of 32 tests, and each test will consist of 2 item investigations. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 16 inside tests (8 Investigations to book items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 8 investigations to book items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
Each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 2 Total_Item_Investigations, 2 Unique_Item_Investigations, and 1 Unique_Item_Investigations).
This must result in 8 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations and 8 OA_Gold Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations and 8 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 4 Controlled Unique_Title_Investigations and 4 OA_Gold Unique_Title_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must carry out 16 outside tests (8 tests to book items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 8 tests to book items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
Each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 4 Total_Item_Investigations, 2 Unique_Item_Investigations, and 1 Unique_Title_Investigations).
This must result in 16 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations and 16 OA_Gold Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations and 8 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 4 Controlled Unique_Title_Investigations and 4 OA_Gold Unique_Title_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold items.
The auditor must carry out a total of 32 tests, and each test will consist of 2 item investigations. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 16 inside tests.
Each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 2 Total_Item_Investigations, 2 Unique_Item_Investigations, and 1 Unique_Title_Investigations).
This must result in 16 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 16 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Title_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must carry out 16 outside tests.
Each title must have 2 book item tests within it (reporting 4 Total_Item_Investigations, 2 Unique_Item_Investigations, and 1 Unique_Title_Investigations).
This must result in 32 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 16 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Title_Investigations in the TR_B3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Total_Item_Requests must match Total_Item_Investigations
Unique_Item_Requests must match Unique_Item_Investigations
Unique_Title_Requests must match Unique_Title_Investigations
Standard View: TR_J1
Journal Requests (excluding OA_Gold): Reports on usage of non-Gold open access journal content as Total_Item_Requests and Unique_Item_Requests. The Unique_Item_Requests provides comparable usage across journal platform by reducing the inflationary effect that occurs when an HTML full text automatically displays and the user then accesses the PDF version. The Total_Item_Requests shows overall activity.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J1 Standard View.
This must result in 100 Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J1 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Requests and 15 Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests and 15 Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Standard View: TR_J2
Journal Accessed Denied: Reports on Access Denied activity for journal content where users were denied access because simultaneous-user licenses were exceeded, or their institution did not have a license for the title.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test cannot be carried out where the content provider does not offer a concurrent/simultaneous-user limit. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor will log into the site and access a journal item. This means that the user limit is at maximum active users.
The auditor will then log into the site using a different computer. The auditor will then repeat the action made on the previous computer (access a journal item). After the Item has been requested, the user should then be refused access because of exceeding the concurrent/simultaneous-user limit. Each time access is refused, the auditor will record this as Limit_Exceeded.
The auditor must force 50 Limit_Exceeded turnaways during testing.
Each of these concurrent/simultaneous turnaways must report 1 Limit_Exceeded in the TR_J2 Standard View.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This test cannot be carried out if the content provider does not restrict site content or where restricted content is not displayed. This must be declared to the auditor and the COUNTER Executive Committee prior to testing.
The auditor must force 50 No_License turnaways during testing.
Each of these journal content not licensed turnaways must report 1 No_License in the TR_J2 Standard View.
Standard View: TR_J3
Journal Usage by Access Type: Reports on usage of journal content for all metric types broken down by access type.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
The auditor must make a total of 100 requests on a subset of unique journal Items (50 requests to journal Items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 50 requests to journal items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
This must result in 50 OA_Gold Total_Item_Requests and 50 Controlled Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 50 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Requests and 50 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold Items.
The auditor must make a total of 100 requests on a subset of unique journal Items.
This must result in 100 Controlled Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 100 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out a total of 30 tests, and each test will consist of 2 requests. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests (8 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 7 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
This must result in 8 Controlled Total_Item_Requests and 7 OA_Gold Total_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests and 7 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must carry out 15 outside tests (8 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 7 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
This must result in 16 Controlled Total_Item_Requests and 14 OA_Gold Total_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests and 7 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold Items.
The auditor must carry out a total of 30 tests, and each test will consist of 2 requests. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Controlled Total_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 15 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Controlled Total_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 15 Controlled Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must make a total of 50 investigations to a subset of unique journal items (25 Investigations of journal items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 25 Investigations of journal items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
This must result in 25 OA_Gold Total_Item_Investigations and 25 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 25 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Investigations and 25 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold Items.
The auditor must make a total of 50 investigations to a subset of unique Journal Items.
This must result in 50 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 50 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations being reported in the TR_J3 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out a total of 30 tests, and each test will consist of 2 Investigations. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests (8 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 7 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
This must result in 8 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations and 7 OA_Gold Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations and 7 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must carry out 15 outside tests (8 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is Controlled and 7 tests to journal items where the Access_Type is OA_Gold).
This must result in 16 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations and 14 OA_Gold Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 8 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations and 7 OA_Gold Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Option 2: Content provider does not offer OA_Gold Items.
The auditor must carry out a total of 30 tests, and each test will consist of 2 Investigations. There are 2 types of tests that must be carried out:
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 15 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The auditor must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Controlled Total_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This must result in 15 Controlled Unique_Item_Investigations in the TR_J3 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Standard View: TR_J4
Journal Requests by YOP (excluding OA_Gold): Breaks down the usage of non-Gold pen Access journal content by year of publication (YOP) providing counts for the metric types Total_Item_Requests and Unique_Item_Requests. Provides the details necessary to analyze usage of content in backfiles or covered by perpetual access agreement. Note: COUNTER reports do not provide access model or perpetual access rights details.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J4 Standard View.
This must result in 100 Unique_Item_Requests being reported in the TR_J4 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Requests and 15 Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J4 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests and 15 Unique_Item_Requests in the TR_J4 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Master Report: IR
The Item Master Report will be COUNTER compliant if the following Standard Views pass the COUNTER audits and the figures reported within them match what is reported in the Master Report.
Any Standard View that is not applicable to the content provider does not require auditing. This must be agreed prior to the audit by COUNTER.
Standard View: IR_A1
Reports on journal article requests at the article level. This report is limited to content with a Data_Type of Journal, Section_Type of article, and metric types of Total_Item_Requests.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the IR_A1 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Requests in the IR_A1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests in the IR_A1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
Standard View: IR_M1
Reports on multimedia requests at the item level.
An audit of this Standard View requires the following:
This must result in 100 Total_Item_Requests being reported in the IR_M1 Standard View.
The auditor must carry out 15 inside tests.
This must result in 15 Total_Item_Requests in the IR_M1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
The audit must carry out 15 outside tests.
This must result in 30 Total_Item_Requests in the IR_M1 Standard View.
This may not be the case if the content provider operates a cache server.
In addition to verifying the delivery of reports in a tabular format, the auditor will check that the COUNTER reports are downloadable using the SUSHI protocol. This may be tested using the COUNTER Report Validation Tool, an open-source tool that provides a series of web-forms and guidance to take users through the steps and parameters needed to connect successfully to SUSHI servers and download content provider reports. The COUNTER Report Validation Tool may be found at: https://stats.redi-bw.de/counter-r5-validation-preview/https://stats.redi-bw.de/counter-r5-validation-preview/.
A content provider will only pass an audit test if the JSON-formatted report produced via SUSHI matches the total of the relevant usage counted on the equivalent tabular report offered by the content provider. In other words, a report should produce the same results irrespective of the format in which it is delivered.