System, method and program product for managing reference data. A data access program receives data retrieval policies and retrieve reference data from remote sources in accordance with the data retrieval policies. A research application assists in generating a conclusion based on said reference data which has been retrieved. A local data system stores the reference data retrieved by the data access program. The local data system associates the conclusion with the retrieved reference data. In response to retrieval of updates to the reference data, the local data system records that the conclusion is based on stale reference data, and can notify an entity responsible for the conclusion that the conclusion is based on stale reference data. Optionally, the local data system can notify the research application to process the updated reference data to assist in generating a new conclusion or validating the first conclusion, as the case may be, based on the updated reference data.