Sources used in compiling the database

The Arms Transfers Project uses a wide variety of sources when collecting information for the database. The one common criterion is that the sources are published and available to the general public. The sources include:

• newspapers;
• periodicals and journals;
• books;
• monographs and annual reference works; and
• official national and international documents.
  

Some governmental publications also contain considerable amounts of information. These include:

• defence white papers;
• the UN Register on Conventional Arms (UNROCA);
• Pentagon notifications on government-to-government arms transfers to the US Congress; and
• translations of articles in the global press provided by the US NTIS Service.
  

The most frequently used sources are commercial periodicals specializing in military issues such as Defense News and Jane's Defence Weekly. A number of NGOs actively gather information on arms transfers and often introduce interesting new pieces of information to the public domain. In the field of aviation, detailed information is provided by a number of sources published by and for enthusiasts.

• Links to some of the research institutes and NGO sources used in compiling the database can be found here.
• Links to some of the media sources used in compiling the database can be found here.
• Links to some of the national, regional and international reporting mechanisms on arms transfers used in compiling the database can be found here.
  

Press releases and websites of arms producing companies are also useful sources of information on arms transfers. The SIPRI Arms Production Project web page provides links to many arms-producing company web sites.

The type of open information used by SIPRI cannot provide a comprehensive picture of world arms transfers. Published reports often provide only partial information, and substantial disagreement among reports is common. Order and delivery dates, exact numbers, types of weapon and the identity of suppliers or recipients may not always be clear. Therefore, the exercise of judgement and the making of estimates are important elements in compiling the database. Estimates are always kept at conservatively low levels.

All sources of data and details of the calculations of estimates, while not published by SIPRI, are collected in an archive maintained by the Arms Transfers Project.




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