Signals of trustworthy information — Knowledge data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Developer Survey 2026

Question

When deciding whether to rely on work-related information, which signals matter most to you? Select up to 5.

multi select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	Respondents	Percent
It is recent or clearly up to date	9,435	72.6%
It comes from an official or trusted source	7,799	60.0%
It is consistent with other trusted information	5,967	45.9%
It is clear, complete, and easy to understand	5,540	42.6%
I know who created or owns it	4,946	38.1%
It includes sources, citations, links, or supporting evidence	4,887	37.6%
It is marked final, approved, accepted, or official	3,960	30.5%
Other people on my team use or endorse it	3,212	24.7%
It was reviewed or validated by a subject matter expert	3,161	24.3%
It is not marked draft, outdated, deprecated, or superseded	2,281	17.6%
It respects access, privacy, or permission rules	1,169	9.0%
Not sure	411	3.2%
None of these	115	0.9%

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Signals of trustworthy information”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/knowledge/data/trust-reason

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

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  "dataId": "TrustReason",
  "asked": "When deciding whether to rely on work-related information, which signals matter most to you? Select up to 5.",
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      "response": "It is recent or clearly up to date",
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    {
      "response": "It comes from an official or trusted source",
      "count": 7799,
      "pct": 0.6
    },
    {
      "response": "It is consistent with other trusted information",
      "count": 5967,
      "pct": 0.459
    },
    {
      "response": "It is clear, complete, and easy to understand",
      "count": 5540,
      "pct": 0.426
    },
    {
      "response": "I know who created or owns it",
      "count": 4946,
      "pct": 0.381
    },
    {
      "response": "It includes sources, citations, links, or supporting evidence",
      "count": 4887,
      "pct": 0.376
    },
    {
      "response": "It is marked final, approved, accepted, or official",
      "count": 3960,
      "pct": 0.305
    },
    {
      "response": "Other people on my team use or endorse it",
      "count": 3212,
      "pct": 0.247
    },
    {
      "response": "It was reviewed or validated by a subject matter expert",
      "count": 3161,
      "pct": 0.243
    },
    {
      "response": "It is not marked draft, outdated, deprecated, or superseded",
      "count": 2281,
      "pct": 0.176
    },
    {
      "response": "It respects access, privacy, or permission rules",
      "count": 1169,
      "pct": 0.09
    },
    {
      "response": "Not sure",
      "count": 411,
      "pct": 0.032
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      "response": "None of these",
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}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| It is recent or clearly up to date | 9,435 | 72.6% |
| It comes from an official or trusted source | 7,799 | 60.0% |
| It is consistent with other trusted information | 5,967 | 45.9% |
| It is clear, complete, and easy to understand | 5,540 | 42.6% |
| I know who created or owns it | 4,946 | 38.1% |
| It includes sources, citations, links, or supporting evidence | 4,887 | 37.6% |
| It is marked final, approved, accepted, or official | 3,960 | 30.5% |
| Other people on my team use or endorse it | 3,212 | 24.7% |
| It was reviewed or validated by a subject matter expert | 3,161 | 24.3% |
| It is not marked draft, outdated, deprecated, or superseded | 2,281 | 17.6% |
| It respects access, privacy, or permission rules | 1,169 | 9.0% |
| Not sure | 411 | 3.2% |
| None of these | 115 | 0.9% |

Spreadsheet

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