RS Glossary
Independent Verification
Independent verification is checking a claim, result, or artifact through a person, method, or evidence path that is sufficiently separate from the original producer to reduce shared assumptions, errors, and conflicts of interest.
- Review state
- Reviewed in POC
- Freshness
- Current
- Version
- 1
- independent-verification
Remember it this wayCheck the work from outside the path that made it.
In plain language
Someone or something outside the original chain checks the work. Independence is not just a second set of eyes; the checker must be able to reach a conclusion without relying only on the same unsupported answer.
Why it matters
An error can survive repeated review when every reviewer uses the same source, assumptions, or incentives. Meaningful separation makes it more likely that a different failure path will be noticed.
Example
An AI assistant summarizes a contract and cites three clauses. A reviewer who did not produce the summary opens the signed contract, locates each clause, and checks the interpretation against the team's requirement before the summary guides a decision.
Common misconception
Independent verification is not a synonym for all verification. Verification checks whether a claim or artifact meets its evidence or requirements. Independent verification adds separation from the original producer or evidence chain.
Related terms
Sources
- NASA, “IV&V Overview”verification, validation, and technical, managerial, and financial dimensions of independence.
- NIST, “AI RMF Core: Measure”involvement of independent assessors and experts who were not front-line developers.
Learn more
Public history
24 recorded events · 24 public summaries
Candidate vocabulary was imported from the Learning Lab discovery queue.
The captured candidate received a complete initial draft and entered section-level human review.
Radar reviewed the initial definition draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial plain-language-explanation draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial why-it-matters draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial example draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial common-misconception draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial remember-it-this-way draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial related-terms draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial sources draft for human consideration.
Radar reviewed the initial learn-more draft for human consideration.
A proposal was opened for section-level human review while preserving the current version.
A human reviewer opened a proposed revision while preserving the current approved or captured version.
definition approved by a human reviewer.
plain-language-explanation approved by a human reviewer.
why-it-matters approved by a human reviewer.
example approved by a human reviewer.
common-misconception approved by a human reviewer.
Radar issue independent-verification-overlap was accepted-as-is by the human section decision.
remember-it-this-way approved by a human reviewer.
related-terms approved by a human reviewer.
sources approved by a human reviewer.
learn-more approved by a human reviewer.
All section gates are approved; content version 1 is now a fully approved term.
Source: vault/Glossary/terms/independent-verification/term.md · sha256:c56ebeb3cae1493a05dfe368d3eeb8fe98e2686530030f7dcf14be4e6cd00290 · Release: rs-glossary-glossary-team-poc-0.5.5-2026-09-02