Eligibility and Approvals
Application
This policy applies to all research created by Forrester, including syndicated (“Syndicated Research”) and commissioned research (“Commissioned Research”), as well as AI-generated responses from Izola, its generative AI tool and Forrester-branded assets such as, but not limited to, logos and badges (collectively, “Research”).
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.
Intended Use
Citing Forrester’s Research is a client privilege that requires approval and is only available to clients, except where noted below.
Companies eligible to cite Forrester research
- Companies with a license to Forrester’s research and services can cite the research and data accessible via their license, subject to Forrester’s prior approval and the terms of their contract with Forrester.
- Companies with a Reprint license can cite the research licensed for reprint.
- Companies who have commissioned a study can cite the deliverables approved by Forrester for external use such as a Thought Leadership Paper, Opportunity Snapshot, and Total Economic Impact™ study, in accordance with their contract.
Exceptions
Forrester does make an exception to this rule for the following constituents:
- Companies that are not Forrester’s clients
- May cite Forrester’s public IP (i.e., blogs and press releases).
- If applicable, may state that they were included in or interviewed for Forrester’s research.
- If applicable, may cite any quotes attributed to the company in the Forrester publication.
- Please contact citations@forrester.com to confirm the specificity of the content that can be cited.
- Independent media outlet and news organizations may cite our research in accordance with our Media Citation Policy. Please contact press@forrester.com for further assistance.
Guidelines for approval
- All use of Forrester’s IP and branded assets is subject to its review and approval.
- All external or commercial citation of Forrester’s 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.
- These guidelines are for general informational purposes only and Forrester reserves any and all rights to the Forrester IP and Syndicated Research including but not limited to the right to deny any and all uses of the Forrester IP and Syndicated Research. Forrester further reserves the right to deny any and all external uses of Commissioned Research.
- Forrester reserves the right to change these guidelines at any time without notice.
Usage that requires approval
- All external or commercial citation of Forrester Research. This includes:
- Use of the Research in any type of materials including advertisements, social media, press releases, blogs, white papers, sales collateral, SEC filings or other legal documents.
- Use of the Research in company-sponsored media articles, advertorials, and company owned publications.
- Any use of Forrester’s logo, badges, trademarks, or service marks.
- Text surrounding links to any websites maintained by Forrester and/or its subsidiaries.
Usage that does not require approval
Internal client use of limited citations of Forrester’s Syndicated Research or any citations of Commissioned Research for the client’s internal use. For example:
- An internal presentation that includes 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 accordance with Forrester’s citations guidelines and contractual provisions.
How to seek approval
- Email Forrester’s Citations department at citations@forrester.com or call 1 617-613-5700.
- Follow the process outlined in the Citations Request Checklist for gathering the necessary materials and following the review process.
- A member of the Citations department will review your request and respond via email within two business days.
Overview of Forrester’s Citation Policy
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must be limited in scope, except as otherwise permitted pursuant to a contract or written agreement with Forrester.
- 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.
- Graphical research analysis, such as Forrester data, may be cited upon gaining Forrester’s approval. Please reference the policy section on Forrester Wave™ 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. Titles must include trademarks and punctuation, where applicable.
- All citations of Research must come from Research that has been published within the past 18 months, unless otherwise stated below or more recently published Research on the same topic and/or data is available.
- 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.
- Translations of approved citations are permitted but must be re-reviewed.
- When describing Forrester, the preferred language to use is “a leading global research and continuous guidance firm”.
What’s not allowed
- Full reproduction of the Syndicated Research is prohibited.
- Forrester analysts and consultants cannot provide verbal or direct quotes for company materials, and companies cannot create quotes to attribute to Forrester analysts or consultants.
- Responses from Izola cannot be cited externally.
- “Forrester,” “Forrester Wave™,” and other trademarks may not appear in the following instances: press release headers or sub headers; 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.
- 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.
- Forrester’s boilerplate cannot be used in any company materials, such as press releases, white papers, and marketing campaigns.
Guidelines for Citing Specific Types of Research
The Forrester Wave™
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- Clients citing any Forrester Wave™ ranking, scores, or quotes must include the following statement in their materials:
- Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here .
- Clients may only claim to be a Leader/Strong Performer/Contender when citing their placement in a Forrester Wave.
- Clients may use wording such as “highest score” or “top ranked” only when citing their current offering and strategy category results from the Forrester Wave.
- Clients may cite the criteria and scale explanations in the Forrester Wave underlying spreadsheet.
- Clients may compare their scores with the high and low scores of the evaluation criteria. For example:
- [Client name] received the highest score in the [criterion name] criterion of the evaluated providers.
- All citations must be based on Forrester’s criteria weightings.
- Clients with a double halo on the Wave graphic may state that they are a Customer Favorite in the evaluation.
- Clients with a single halo on the Wave graphic may state that they received above-average customer feedback.
- If character constraints prevent the full objectivity statement from being included in the material, said material must link to an approved asset that includes the statement.
- Clients with a Wave Reprints license may use the Wave graphic and badge, if applicable, in marketing and promotional materials, including: email marketing campaigns, paid and organic social media, advertisements, videos, presentations and blogs.
- Clients with a Wave Reprints license may use their Wave badge, if applicable, in email signatures when accompanied by a report citation and link to the accessible reprint.
- Companies with a Wave Reprints license can cite more than three non-comparative statements based on the report. For example:
- Client’s topline results — “[Reprints client name] is a [Leader/Strong Performer/Contender] with the highest score in the [current offering/strategy] category.”
- List of all the criteria where the Reprints client received the highest score or highest scores possible
- Quoting five verbatim sentences from the Reprints client’s profile
- Clients without a Wave Reprints license may cite up to three non-comparative statements based on the report. For example:
- Client’s topline results – “[Client name} is a [Leader/Strong Performer/Contender] with the highest score in the [Current Offering/Strategy] category”
- Up to three specific criteria scores –“ [Client name] had the highest score possible in criteria of {X, Y, and Z]”
- One quoted sentence from the client’s profile
What’s not allowed
- Companies cannot claim to be a Leader/Strong Performer/Contender in a specific criterion or category. For example, a company cannot claim to be a Leader in the current offering category or a Strong Performer in the vision criterion.
- Companies cannot distribute the full spreadsheet.
- Direct comparisons with specific companies or products are not allowed.
- Citations of other companies’ scores or profiles are not permitted.
- Clients may not publicly cite or display custom scores from Forrester Wave scorecards.
- The Forrester Wave graphic cannot be used without a Reprints license.
- Clients without a Wave Reprints license cannot cite more than three statements based on the report. Refer to the above what’s allowed section to see what clients without a Wave Reprints license can cite.
For further guidance, see our Wave Dos and Don’ts page.
The Forrester Digital Experience Review™, Landscapes, and Rankings
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- Clients citing any Forrester ranking, scores, or recognition among notable providers must include the following objectivity statement in their materials:
- Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.
- If character constraints prevent the full objectivity statement from being included in the material, said material must link to an approved asset that includes the statement.
- Clients with a Reprints license can use their Forrester badge, if applicable, in marketing and promotional materials and email signature banners if accompanied by a report citation or link to access the reprint.
- Companies with a Reprints license can cite more than three non-comparative statements from the report. For example:
- A statement about the Reprints client’s status or ranking in the report
- A statement about the Reprints client’s past status or ranking in the research, if applicable
- Quoting five verbatim sentences from the report.
- Clients without a Reprints license can cite up to three noncomparative statements based on a Landscape, Digital Experience Review™, or rankings report. For example:
- One statement about the client’s status or ranking in the report
- Two verbatim sentences quoted from the report
What’s not allowed
- Direct comparisons with specific companies or products are not allowed.
- Citations of other companies’ scores, rankings, or profiles are not permitted.
- Clients without a Reprints license cannot cite more than three statements from a Landscape, Digital Experience Review, or rankings report.
- Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS) and rankings cannot be cited.
For further guidance, see our Landscape Dos and Don’ts page.
Commissioned Research
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- All citations must come directly from Commissioned Research itself.
- All citations of Commissioned Research must be attributed to Forrester Consulting, and the citations must include the following attribution, as well as the date and title of the study, 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 Commissioned Research.
- Forrester’s status as an independent research firm must be clear.
- To cite from Commissioned Research that was not commissioned by one’s own company, the client that commissioned the research must provide Forrester with written approval for the requested usage.
- For example: If Company A wishes to cite research commissioned by Company B, Company A must provide Forrester written permission from Company B to do so or ask Forrester to seek such permission from Company B.
What’s not allowed
- Forrester analysts, advisors, and consultants cannot provide verbal or direct quotes for client materials, and companies cannot create quotes to attribute to Forrester analysts or consultants.
- Commissioned Research may not be attributed in any way to a specific Forrester analyst or consultant.
- Excluding Total Economic Impact™ studies, Commissioned Research about specific companies and/or products is for internal usage only and cannot be cited externally.
- Total Economic Impact studies older than 24 months cannot be cited.
- All other Commissioned Research older than 18 months cannot be cited.
- Commissioned Research may not be positioned in any way that implies that Forrester is endorsing any company, product, or brand.
- Commissioned Research cannot appear to be jointly released or co-branded between Forrester and the client.
- Statements made by Forrester analysts/consultants during client webinars, podcasts, videos, or other recorded presentations associated with Commissioned 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 further guidance, see our Commissioned Research Dos and Don’ts page.
Analyst Engagements (Webinars, Speeches, Videos, Podcasts)
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- 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.
- Forrester’s slides must contain Forrester’s copyright notice: © Forrester Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
- It must be clear that Forrester is a guest/featured speaker/presenter and that Forrester is not co-hosting or co-marketing the event.
- Analyst and consultant names can be mentioned in email subject lines and press release headlines and subheads if it is clear they are a guest at the event.
- Recordings may only be replayed in their entirety, when both the audio and visual elements are presented together, and if the appropriate replay rights have been purchased.
- With a replay license, clients may create clips of their analyst engagement recordings for use in marketing the full recording. Clips must provide access to the full recording and be reviewed and approved by the Citations team.
What’s not allowed
- 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 of analyst engagements without an appropriate replay license are not permitted.
For further guidance, see our Client-Sponsored Engagement Dos and Don’ts page.
Forrester Social Media Content
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- Noncomparative content from Forrester blogs and other Forrester social channels may be cited.
- Each citation must clearly define the social channel (e.g., Forrester blog), title of the post if applicable, and date.
- All requests to cite research content authored by Forrester analysts and consultants under their own social profile will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
What’s not allowed
- Full reproduction of the blog post without a Reprints license.
Guidelines for Reprints
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- 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.
- Clients may provide direct access to their unique Reprints link or place it behind a registration page.
- Report reprints should be referenced as “complimentary” and without monetary association.
- With a Reprints license, clients may use a Forrester-provided badge, if applicable, in an email signature banner.
- With a Reprints license, a company may display the Forrester Wave™ graphic in their materials, including on social media and in presentations, with the accompanying statement:
- Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here .
What’s not allowed
- Clients may not host or distribute the PDF of their reprint.
- Clients may not assign a monetary value to their reprints in their materials.
- Clients may not translate their reprints themselves. Contact your account manager if you would like to learn about options to do so.
For further guidance, see our Reprints Dos and Don’ts page.
Guidelines for Forrester Logo and Badge Usage
What’s required and allowed
- All Forrester logo and Forrester-branded report badges must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- Use of the Forrester logo is a client privilege. Use of Forrester-branded report badges requires the purchase of a Reprints license to the specific report.
- 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 Reprints license is active.
- The Forrester logo or badges may be used in client materials but must be smaller and less prominently displayed than the client’s logo.
- 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.
- Forrester badges may be used in email signatures as part of a company-branded banner marketing their Reprints license. Banners must link to a landing page for the full reprint or directly to the reprint.
What’s not allowed
- The Forrester logo cannot be horizontally aligned with the client’s logo.
- The Forrester logo or badges may not be used in client press releases.
- The Forrester logo may not be used in email signatures.
- Forrester’s social media profile icons cannot be used.
For further guidance, see our Logo Dos and Don’ts page.
For the Forrester logo files, click here and scroll to the bottom right of the page to download them.
Guidelines Based on Promotional Assets/Materials
Ads and Social Media
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- All requests must include the location and placement of the advertisement during the review process and what it will link to.
- Ads and social posts about company rankings, scores, or notable provider recognition must link to materials with the disclaimer included.
- Forrester and Forrester analysts’ and consultants’ social profiles can be tagged but must be included as part of the review.
- Hashtags and emojis must be submitted for review.
- With a Reprints license, the Forrester Wave™ graphic and any applicable badges may be used in ads and on social posts provided they link to an asset with the following statement:
- Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.
What’s not allowed
- Advertisements and social posts shall not appear to be co-sponsored by or co-branded with Forrester.
- Services or products advertised shall not appear to be endorsed by Forrester.
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- Please reference the Forrester Wave policy section for any guidance on citations for emails specific to the Forrester Wave™.
- Emails about company rankings or scores or that cite Forrester Wave™ profile content must contain the disclaimer.
- Forrester badges may be used in email signatures as part of a company-branded banner marketing their Reprint license. Banners must link to a landing page for the full reprint or directly to the reprint.
- Analyst and consultant names can be mentioned in email subject lines if it is clear that they are a guest at a client event.
- The Forrester Wave graphic may be used in email marketing, provided it is accompanied by the following statement:
- Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here .
What’s not allowed
- Forrester branding, including logo and badges, cannot be used in email signatures with the exception of Forrester badges from licensed Reprints.
- “Forrester,” “The Forrester Wave™,” and other trademarks may not appear in email subject lines.
- Forrester analyst and consultant names are not permitted to be used in email subject lines when citing Forrester IP.
Press Releases
What’s required and allowed
- All citations must comply with the Citation Policy overview requirements.
- Please reference the Forrester Wave™ policy section for any guidance on citations for press releases specific to the Forrester Wave.
- Press releases about company rankings or scores or that cite Forrester Wave profile content must contain the following objectivity statement:
- Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here .
- Analyst and consultant names can be mentioned in press release headlines or subheads if it is clear that they are a guest at a related event.
What’s not allowed
- “Forrester,” “The Forrester Wave™,” and other trademarks may not appear in press release headers and sub headers.
- Forrester branding, including logo and badges, cannot be used in client press releases.
- Forrester analyst and consultant names are not permitted to be used in press release headers and subheads when citing Forrester Research or Commissioned Research.
Resources
Other Helpful Policies
Checklist
This checklist outlines the information and materials the Citations department needs to review your request.
- State the company/organization that the request is for.
- State whether the company is a Forrester client and indicate if the company has purchased a Reprints license for the research being cited.
- Provide the full context in which the Forrester citation will appear. 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.
- Submit your copy (landing page, press release, blog, social media, etc.) in an editable format.
- 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.
- If submitting material in a shared document, grant access to citations@forrester.com or make the link available to those receiving it.
- 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, Commissioned Research), please send the original source document along with your request.
- 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.).
- Indicate any specific time frames, deadlines, or special considerations in your initial request.
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.