Verification

A badge is only worth what was actually checked.

So every badge on PsychologyOrbit records which body was checked, which reference was checked, and on what date. Hover any badge and it will tell you. A badge you cannot interrogate is decoration, and decoration is worse than nothing on a platform whose whole purpose is trust.

Licence verified Researcher verified Education verified Student verified

The seven tiers

Which account types may request which badge is fixed. A student account cannot request a licence badge, and an enthusiast account cannot request any professional badge at all.

Badge	Who can request it	Evidence needed	What it actually claims
Identity verified	Any member	A government photo ID, checked against the name on the profile.	That the person is who the profile says they are. Nothing about qualifications.
Student verified	Students and trainees	A current enrolment letter, student card with dates, or an email at the institution's domain.	That they are enrolled on a psychology programme right now.
Education verified	Anyone with a degree	A degree certificate or an official transcript.	That the named qualification was awarded by the named institution.
Professional verified	Practising professionals	Proof of professional body membership, plus evidence of practice.	That they hold current membership of the named professional body.
Licence verified	Regulated practitioners	A registration or licence number, checked against the regulator's own public register.	That the registration was live on the register on the date it was checked.
Researcher verified	Researchers and academics	An ORCID iD with published work, or an institutional research affiliation.	That they have a verifiable research record.
Organisation verified	Institutions	Official registration documents, the institution's domain, and a named representative.	That the organisation is real and that this page is run with its authority.

What happens to your documents

Stored outside the public web root Documents are never in a folder a web server can serve. There is no URL that reaches them, guessable or otherwise. A reviewer opens them through an authenticated route that logs every access.

Never shown on your profile Your profile shows the badge and what was checked. It never shows the document, the licence number, or the file name.

Deletable after a decision Once a badge is granted or refused, you can ask for the document to be deleted and keep the badge. The record of what was checked stays; the file does not have to.

When a badge is removed

A registration lapses or is not renewed.
A regulator takes action against the registration.
The evidence turns out not to support the claim.
The member asks for it to be removed.

Badges are not permanent, and a platform that treats them as permanent is telling members something untrue about the present.

Reputation, and why followers do not count

Engagement-based reputation rewards whoever posts most often. On a professional platform that is precisely the wrong person to elevate. So the formula is published and it is the one the database actually uses.

What counts	Points
Verification license	100
Verification professional	80
Verification researcher	60
Verification education	40
Verification student	20
Verification identity	20
Research item	25
Research recommendation	3
Post	2
Answer recommendation	2
Community contribution	1
Followers	0
Posting frequency	0

Questions

How long does verification take on PsychologyOrbit?

A reviewer looks at each submission by hand, so it depends on the queue. The status page shows where your request currently sits.

What happens to the document I upload for verification?

It is stored outside the public web root, is never linked publicly, and is only opened by a reviewer. You can request deletion once a decision has been made.

Can a verified badge be removed?

Yes. A badge is revoked if a registration lapses, if a regulator acts, or if the evidence turns out not to support it.

Create a profile and request a badge Ask about verification