Digital security
Digital Security Essentials
Threat modelling, device hygiene, passwords and two-factor, encrypted messaging and safe browsing — the baseline every reporter needs before touching a sensitive story.
For members & the field
Resources & training
Cross-border investigation demands skills, tools and data that no single newsroom can build alone. The IAOIJ gives members a practical toolkit — courses, field guides, shared datasets, a data desk and reporting grants — and shares much of it openly with the wider field.
Training & courses
Members get full access →Our curriculum is built and taught by working investigative journalists and security specialists. Courses run in two formats — self-paced modules you can take any time, and facilitated cohorts with live sessions, exercises and a peer group. Members take every course free; selected introductory material is open to all.
Company research
Investigating Companies & Beneficial Ownership
How to trace who really owns and controls a business across borders — reading company filings, unpicking shell structures and nominee directors, and following ownership through secrecy jurisdictions.
Data
Data Journalism & Scraping
From spreadsheets to structured investigation: cleaning messy records, joining datasets, writing your first scraper, and turning millions of rows into a story readers can follow.
Finance
Financial-Crime Reporting
Follow the money with confidence — reading balance sheets and bank records, understanding money laundering and trade-based schemes, sanctions evasion and the professional enablers who make it work.
Sources
Working with Whistleblowers
Receiving, assessing and protecting a source safely: secure intake, verifying leaked material, managing legal and personal risk, and the promises you can and cannot make.
Safety
Trauma-Aware & Safety Training
Hostile-environment awareness, risk assessment and personal safety planning, plus the psychological side of the work — interviewing survivors with care and looking after yourself and your team.
Guides & toolkits
Get access →Reference guides written by IAOIJ members and reviewed by our security and legal teams, kept current as tools and laws change. Members can download the full library as PDFs; sign in or become a member for access.
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PDF · 2.4 MB
Source Protection Field Guide
Practical steps to keep a confidential source safe before, during and after publication — from first contact to long-term operational security.
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PDF · 1.9 MB
Secure Communications Handbook
Choosing and using Signal, PGP email, SecureDrop and encrypted storage — with clear guidance on metadata, threat models and what each tool does and does not protect.
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PDF · 3.1 MB
Cross-Border Collaboration Playbook
How to run a multi-newsroom investigation: sharing documents securely, agreeing editorial standards, coordinating a right of reply and publishing simultaneously.
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PDF · 4.6 MB
FOI / Access-to-Information Global Index
Request procedures, statutory deadlines and appeal routes for freedom-of-information regimes across 94 jurisdictions, with template letters in 40+ languages.
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PDF · 2.8 MB
Corporate Registry Directory
Where to find company, land, court and beneficial-ownership records in every region — which registries are free, which charge, and how to search each one.
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PDF · 0.9 MB
Threat-Modelling Worksheet
A step-by-step template to map the physical, digital, legal and psychological risks of an assignment — and plan mitigations — before you begin reporting.
Data & methods
The IAOIJ Data Desk
A small team of data journalists, engineers and researchers helps members find, clean, structure and interrogate the records behind an investigation — and maintains a growing library of shared datasets that members can search across countries.
The desk turns raw material into evidence: matching millions of records, building searchable indexes of leaked archives, geolocating imagery, and standing up the secure infrastructure that lets reporters in different countries work on the same documents at once. Members can request bespoke support for a project, or draw on datasets the desk already curates and keeps up to date.
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Company & ownership registries
Consolidated corporate, land and beneficial-ownership records — including leaked and hard-to-reach registries — indexed for cross-border name searches.
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Sanctions & watchlists
A unified, historical view of OFAC, EU, UN and national designations, so members can check names and entities against every list at once.
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Vessel & flight tracking
Archived AIS ship-movement and ADS-B flight histories for tracing sanctioned cargo, private jets and the logistics behind an operation.
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Public procurement & contracts
Tenders, awards and contracting records from dozens of jurisdictions — the paper trail of how public money is spent.
Responsible data
Verification before publication
Access to data is a responsibility, not a licence to publish. Every member using the desk agrees to the IAOIJ data standards: verify authenticity, establish the public interest, and report on what the records show rather than dumping them.
We protect personal and third-party information, redact what would endanger innocent people, and document methodology so findings can be defended. These standards are set out in full in our Code of Ethics.
Fellowships & grants
Funding the reporting that wouldn't otherwise happen
The IAOIJ grants programme has awarded more than $4.2m across 210 grants to independent, public-interest investigations — from single rapid-response stories to year-long cross-border collaborations. Grants of up to $25,000 per project cover reporting costs, data acquisition, travel, translation, security and legal review.
$4.2m+Awarded since 2011
210Grants funded
$25,000Maximum per project
94Countries eligible
Up to $25,000
Cross-Border Reporting Fellowship
Our flagship grant for teams of two or more members in different countries pursuing a single investigation together, over four to nine months, with editorial and data support from the Cross-Border Desk.
Up to $5,000
Rapid-Response Story Grant
Fast, lightweight funding for a time-sensitive public-interest story — decided within days so a member can travel, file a records request or verify a lead before the moment passes.
Up to $15,000
Data Investigation Grant
For investigations built on data — acquiring, cleaning and analysing datasets, commissioning scraping or document processing, and hands-on collaboration with the IAOIJ Data Desk.
As needed
Safety & Legal Grant
Emergency and preventive support for members at risk: protective equipment, secure relocation, pre-publication legal review and defence against intimidation or SLAPP suits.
How to apply
Eligibility & deadlines
Who can apply. IAOIJ members in good standing — including free Associate members — may apply individually or as a team; Cross-Border Fellowships require members from at least two countries. Applicants pitch a specific investigation in the public interest, a realistic budget and a safety plan. Grants are awarded on editorial merit and public-interest value by an independent selection panel; funding is never contingent on findings.
How to apply. Submit a two-page proposal, budget and short reporting plan through the members' portal. Rapid-Response and Safety & Legal grants are assessed on a rolling basis; Fellowship and Data grants run on an annual cycle. Applications for the 2026 cycle close 30 September 2026. Not yet a member? Join the IAOIJ to become eligible.
Digital security helpline
Under threat? Reach the 24/7 rapid-response line.
Members facing a hack, seizure, surveillance, doxxing or an urgent physical-safety threat can reach IAOIJ security responders at any hour. We help you contain the incident, secure your devices and sources, and connect you to legal and relocation support. Contact us through the members' portal or on Signal for an encrypted first response.
All of this comes with membership.
Every course, guide, dataset and grant is open to IAOIJ members. Join as a journalist or partner your newsroom to access the full toolkit and the people behind it.