{"id":2139,"date":"2019-08-07T14:35:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T12:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/?post_type=encyclopedia&#038;p=2139"},"modified":"2026-07-18T12:35:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:35:27","slug":"alcoa","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/","title":{"rendered":"ALCOA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALCOA is a common acronym summarizing the criteria of data integrity (the ALCOA principles). It stands for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Attributable (i.e., identification of the source, the data originator &ndash; person, device, or system)<\/li>\n<li>Legible (and understandable)<\/li>\n<li>Contemporaneous (i.e., recorded at the time)<\/li>\n<li>Original (the initial record itself &ndash; paper-based or electronic &ndash; or a certified\/true copy)<\/li>\n<li>Accurate (i.e., the degree to which data reflects the original values or facts it represents)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The literature names additional criteria. The first plus adds four:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Complete (i.e., all process-relevant data needed for sound decision-making)<\/li>\n<li>Consistent (relevant data, including changes, is recorded in the correct chronological order and with correct timestamps)<\/li>\n<li>Enduring (recorded on suitable media &ndash; no Post-its, backs of pages, or loose uncontrolled sheets; flat files or USB drives only with controls: access, metadata, backup)<\/li>\n<li>Available (i.e., data remains available across the entire data lifecycle &ndash; for audits, inspections, reviews)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second plus makes it ALCOA++: it adds Traceable &ndash; changes to the data can be reconstructed (who, what, when, why). ALCOA+ appears in PIC\/S PI 041, among others; the extension by Traceable is used, among others, by the EMA guideline on computerised systems and electronic data in clinical trials (2023) &ndash; QFINITY consistently writes ALCOA++ for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ALCOA is a common acronym summarizing the criteria of data integrity (the ALCOA principles). It stands for: Attributable (i.e., identification of the source, the data originator &#8211; person, device, or system) Legible (and understandable) Contemporaneous (i.e., recorded at the time) Original (the initial record itself &#8211; paper-based or electronic &#8211; or a certified\/true copy) Accurate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[],"class_list":["post-2139","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ALCOA Glossary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, nofollow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ALCOA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"QFINITY\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-18T10:35:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/\",\"name\":\"ALCOA Glossary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-07T12:35:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-18T10:35:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Glossar\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"ALCOA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"QFINITY\",\"description\":\"Qualit\u00e4tsmanagement &amp; - sicherung\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"QFINITY\u221e\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/mlsqau6zetur.i.optimole.com\\/cb:frAi.c2d9\\/w:512\\/h:512\\/q:mauto\\/f:best\\/https:\\/\\/q-finity.de\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2021\\/03\\/cropped-cropped-signet_PAN_orange.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/mlsqau6zetur.i.optimole.com\\/cb:frAi.c2d9\\/w:512\\/h:512\\/q:mauto\\/f:best\\/https:\\/\\/q-finity.de\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2021\\/03\\/cropped-cropped-signet_PAN_orange.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"QFINITY\u221e\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/q-finity-quality-management\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/qfinity_official\\\/\"],\"founder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#founder\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#founder\",\"name\":\"Oliver Herrmann\",\"jobTitle\":\"Founder & CEO\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"worksFor\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/olherrmann\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/virtual.ispe.org\\\/b\\\/sp\\\/oliver-herrmann-4399\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"GxP-Compliance\",\"Computer System Validation\",\"Computer Software Assurance\",\"Data Integrity\",\"ALCOA++\",\"AI Governance\",\"GAMP 5\"],\"image\":\"https:\\/\\/q-finity.de\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/06\\/oliver-herrmann-qfinity-ceo-scaled.jpg\",\"description\":\"Founder and CEO of QFINITY, GAMP Europe Chair, qualified GAMP 5 and GAMP Data Integrity trainer, GQMA auditor and international speaker. Co-author of several ISPE GAMP guides, including the GAMP 5 Guide (2nd Edition).\",\"memberOf\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE)\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ispe.org\"},\"hasCredential\":[{\"@type\":\"EducationalOccupationalCredential\",\"credentialCategory\":\"degree\",\"name\":\"Graduate Computer Scientist (Dipl.-Inf.)\"},{\"@type\":\"EducationalOccupationalCredential\",\"credentialCategory\":\"certification\",\"name\":\"Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)\"},{\"@type\":\"EducationalOccupationalCredential\",\"credentialCategory\":\"certification\",\"name\":\"SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"DefinedTerm\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/#definedterm\",\"name\":\"ALCOA\",\"description\":\"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/q-finity.de\\\/en\\\/glossar\\\/alcoa\\\/#webpage\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ALCOA Glossary","description":"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"nofollow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ALCOA","og_description":"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.","og_url":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/","og_site_name":"QFINITY","article_modified_time":"2026-07-18T10:35:27+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/","url":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/","name":"ALCOA Glossary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-08-07T12:35:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-18T10:35:27+00:00","description":"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Glossar","item":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"ALCOA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/","name":"QFINITY","description":"Qualit\u00e4tsmanagement &amp; - sicherung","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#organization","name":"QFINITY\u221e","url":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlsqau6zetur.i.optimole.com\/cb:frAi.c2d9\/w:512\/h:512\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/q-finity.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-cropped-signet_PAN_orange.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlsqau6zetur.i.optimole.com\/cb:frAi.c2d9\/w:512\/h:512\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/q-finity.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-cropped-signet_PAN_orange.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"QFINITY\u221e"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/q-finity-quality-management\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/qfinity_official\/"],"founder":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#founder"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#founder","name":"Oliver Herrmann","jobTitle":"Founder & CEO","url":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/","worksFor":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/#organization"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/olherrmann\/","https:\/\/virtual.ispe.org\/b\/sp\/oliver-herrmann-4399"],"knowsAbout":["GxP-Compliance","Computer System Validation","Computer Software Assurance","Data Integrity","ALCOA++","AI Governance","GAMP 5"],"image":"https:\/\/mlsqau6zetur.i.optimole.com\/cb:mN7M.c4bb\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/q-finity.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/oliver-herrmann-qfinity-ceo-scaled.jpg","description":"Founder and CEO of QFINITY, GAMP Europe Chair, qualified GAMP 5 and GAMP Data Integrity trainer, GQMA auditor and international speaker. Co-author of several ISPE GAMP guides, including the GAMP 5 Guide (2nd Edition).","memberOf":{"@type":"Organization","name":"International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE)","url":"https:\/\/ispe.org"},"hasCredential":[{"@type":"EducationalOccupationalCredential","credentialCategory":"degree","name":"Graduate Computer Scientist (Dipl.-Inf.)"},{"@type":"EducationalOccupationalCredential","credentialCategory":"certification","name":"Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)"},{"@type":"EducationalOccupationalCredential","credentialCategory":"certification","name":"SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)"}]},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/#definedterm","name":"ALCOA","description":"ALCOA is a common acronym for representing data integrity by meeting specific criteria as attributable, legible and original.","url":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/glossar\/alcoa\/#webpage"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/2139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/q-finity.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=2139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}