A researcher browsing genealogical circles quickly runs into an alphabet soup of initials: CG, AG, NGS, APG, sometimes CGL alongside them. Some of these are credentials, earned through a formal evaluation. Others are simply memberships, available to anyone willing to pay dues and agree to a code of conduct. Confusing the two isn’t a minor mistake — it’s the difference between “this person’s work has been independently tested against a published standard” and “this person has joined an organization.” Both are legitimate and useful. They are not the same thing.

Two Different Categories

Of the organizations most commonly encountered, exactly two actually test and credential a genealogist’s work: the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) and the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). The other two most commonly encountered — the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) — are membership organizations. Joining either is valuable for education, community, and professional standing, but neither one evaluates the quality of a member’s actual research.^[1]

BCG: The Certified Genealogist Credential

The Board for Certification of Genealogists was established in 1964 and awards the Certified Genealogist® (CG®) credential, along with the related Certified Genealogical Lecturer® (CGL®) credential for those who teach.^[2] Certification is portfolio-based: a candidate submits a body of work, including a case study built as a full proof argument and a client research report on a line unrelated to their own family, all judged against BCG’s published Genealogy Standards — the same standards, including the Genealogical Proof Standard, discussed throughout this series. BCG doesn’t require a candidate to specialize in a specific geographic region, and its evaluators generally prefer work built from original records rather than compiled sources. Certification runs for five years and must be renewed with evidence that skills have been maintained.

ICAPGen: The Accredited Genealogist Credential

ICAPGen traces its roots to the Family History Library’s in-house research service in Salt Lake City and awards the Accredited Genealogist® (AG®) credential.^[3] The defining difference from BCG is regional specialization: an AG credential is earned for a specific geographic area — a U.S. region, a particular country, a specific record-keeping tradition — and candidates are advised to have roughly a thousand hours of research experience in that area before applying. The evaluation combines a submitted research project with a proctored written examination, rather than the portfolio-only approach BCG uses. For a family like the Dillmans, with documented lines running through German, French, Russian, English, Dutch, and Scandinavian records, an AG credentialed specifically in German or Russian-German research would bring a narrower but deeper kind of expertise than a general credential would.

NGS: Education and Community

The National Genealogical Society is a membership and education organization, not a credentialing body.^[4] Members receive the NGS Quarterly journal, NGS Magazine, an email newsletter, discounted courses, an annual conference, and access to an extensive online Learning Center. NGS merged with the Federation of Genealogical Societies in 2020, broadening its role as a hub connecting local and regional genealogical societies. Nothing about NGS membership certifies a researcher’s skill level — it’s a resource for building that skill, and a community for genealogists at every level of experience.

APG: Ethics and the Business of Genealogy

The Association of Professional Genealogists, founded in 1979, is a trade association built around professional ethics and business practice rather than skills testing.^[5] Every member signs APG’s Code of Ethics and Professional Practices, agreeing to standards covering accurate citation, client confidentiality, fair dealing with other researchers, and (as of a recent revision) continuing education requirements. APG maintains a member directory that’s useful for locating a professional researcher, and provides a grievance process if a member violates the Code. APG membership is a meaningful signal of professional commitment and ethical accountability. It is not, on its own, evidence that a specific member’s research meets any particular quality bar — that’s what the BCG and ICAPGen credentials are for.

At a Glance

Is Certification Worth Pursuing?

For the overwhelming majority of family historians researching their own line, no formal credential is necessary to do excellent work — everything this series has discussed, from source classification to the Genealogical Proof Standard itself, is freely available and fully usable without ever submitting a portfolio to anyone. Certification earns its value in two specific situations: researchers planning to take on paid client work, where CG or AG after a name is a credible, externally verified signal of competence; and researchers evaluating someone else’s published work, where knowing that an author holds a genuine, tested credential (rather than simply belonging to a membership organization) is a legitimate reason for extra confidence in a compiled source — precisely the kind of evaluation discussed earlier in this series.

For Dillman Researchers

Knowing the difference between these organizations is directly useful for the DFA’s harder research problems — the incompletely documented Groups 46, 105, and 129, or any line that has stalled despite reasonably exhaustive searching. A researcher considering professional help for a specific regional brick wall, such as a Russian-German line requiring specialized record knowledge, should look specifically for an ICAPGen AG credentialed in that region, or a BCG-certified CG with a demonstrated portfolio in similar record sets — not simply an APG directory listing, which confirms ethical commitment but not subject-matter mastery. For everyone else, these organizations remain excellent, low-stakes sources of education and community, whether or not a credential is ever pursued.

Sources

1. “Professional Genealogy Associations Explained: APG, BCG, ICAPGen & NGS,” Legacy Tree Genealogists (accessed July 2026).
2. Board for Certification of Genealogists, “Credentialing: Accreditation, Certification, or Both?” bcgcertification.org (accessed July 2026).
3. “Genealogical Credentialing and Education,” Lois Abromitis Mackin, Ph.D. (accessed July 2026).
4. “Professional Genealogy Organizations,” Family Tree Magazine (accessed July 2026).
5. Association of Professional Genealogists, “Code of Ethics,” apgen.org (accessed July 2026); “Association of Professional Genealogists,” Wikipedia (accessed July 2026).

AI Disclosure: This article was researched and written with the assistance of Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic. Online sources were accessed in July 2026.

Notes

1. References to the DFA’s Family Group Sheets database, including Groups 46, 105, and 129, are drawn from the Dillman Family Association, Family Group Sheet Database, compiled 2026.