The term due diligence (in English: due diligence) is used for concepts that involve the investigation of a company or person prior to the signing of a contract or a law with a certain degree of care. This may be a legal obligation, but the term is commonly more applicable to voluntary investigations. A common example of due diligence in various industries is the process by which a potential buyer evaluates a target company or its assets for an acquisition.

Due diligence theory maintains that conducting this type of research contributes significantly to informed decision-making by optimizing the quality and quantity of information available to those making these decisions and by ensuring that this information is systematically used to thoughtfully deliberate the decision in question and all its costs, risks and benefits.[1]​.