9.3 Audit Timelines

An audit is valid for twelve months from the date of seeding: that is, an audit seeded in April 2025 will be valid until the end of March 2026.

The audit process can be lengthy and report providers should take this into consideration when planning for audits. A typical timeline is shown in Table 9.a below.

Table 9.a (below): Audit Timelines

Process	Usual Duration	Example
Seeding	1 calendar month	Seeding actions in February
Usage processed, reports available	Up to 28 days from end of seeding month	Reports available by 28 March
Report reconciliation	4 to 6 weeks	Reconciliation during April
Fixes after interim report	Up to 3 months	Interim report issued end April, fixes due by end July
Report reconciliation after fixes	1 month	Final report issued during August

9.3.1 Extensions

Report providers may request extensions to the usual timelines under the following circumstances.

• Delayed seeding - where a report provider is able to demonstrate that they have run the COUNTER Validator and are in the process of fixing problems identified by the validator before commencing an audit, they may apply for up to three months delay in the seeding process.

• Extension to the fix period - where an Interim Report has identified significant problems with COUNTER reports, the report provider may apply for an extension of the fix period from the standard three to a maximum of six months (i.e. an additional three months).

Applications for extensions MUST be sent to both the Executive Director (code@countermetrics.org) and the auditor, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Only one extension of each type will be granted for any audit, and all extensions will be tracked in the Registry.

There may be limited, unforeseen circumstances in which an additional extension may be granted. In these cases the report provider and auditor MUST explain the extenuating circumstances in a short report to the COUNTER Executive Committee. Note that being unable to prioritise fixes in the development queue does not qualify as an unforeseen circumstance. If the additional extension is granted, the report provider will not be required to start seeding an audit until three months after a successful audit pass.

In rare circumstances, a report provider might receive both a delayed seeding extension, and an extension to the fix period for a single audit. If their seeding month was scheduled for January, the combination of both extensions would result in their audit being completed in December. In this circumstance, COUNTER will reschedule seeding to start three months after completion of the delayed audit.

9.3.2 Alternate year audits

Some report providers are eligible to be audited once every 24 months. Specifically, report providers delivering COUNTER reports for a single platform, where that platform includes up to 150 books OR 15 journals OR one database, may apply to the Executive Director for alternate year audit status.

Report providers with historic permission to be audited in alternate years for Release 5 of the Code of Pratice will also be considered for alternate year audit for R5.1, but they MUST reapply to the Executive Director for confirmation.