The principle methodology for filling in this database is to commission researchers around the world to prepare briefs on local weapons industry, arms production, export laws and regulations, official sources of import and export data and critiques of these data sources, and documents on illegal arms trafficking.

For legal arms import and export data, we are relying solely on official (governmental) export documents. For notes on the export reports and data provided by each exporting government, click on the "Laws & Policies" section of that particular exporting country’s main page. One of the links under that heading will concern governmental transparency in the arms trade and official data sources. You will find there an explanation of the source of the data, its limitations, and our methodology with the data (i.e., which items or export categories we deemed to be relevant, the value and source of the currency multiplier we used to convert the local currency into US dollars, etc.). We maintain paper copies of all government data and will provide copies upon request. In addition, we provide source information at the top of all documents, as well as links to official web sites providing the information, when possible.