The Open Budget Survey uses internationally accepted criteria developed by multilateral organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

It is a fact-based research instrument that assesses what occurs in practice through readily observable phenomena.

The entire research process took approximately 18 months between March 2014 and September 2015 and involved about 300 experts in 102 countries.

The Survey was revised somewhat from the 2012 version to reflect emerging developments in accepted good practice and to strengthen individual questions.