What does "DNA Verified" mean in my database?
I have tested with Ancestry.com and have also uploaded my DNA to MyHeritage and GEDmatch. I am always happy to hear from DNA matches and from any other researchers with similar interests.
There are, of course, many possible ways to intepret DNA results. I take the approach of using DNA primarily as a check for conventional research. In cases where DNA allows me to break a brick wall, I always look for the documentary sources to back up the suggested relationships, and only consider them proven once I have found such sources.
Therefore, I consider a relationship to be "verified" by DNA when a DNA match suggests a relationship that is consistent with the relationship shown by the conventional evidence. For example, if I can show from vital records, censuses and other documents that a certain person is my nth cousin, and then I find a DNA match with that person that is consistent with them being my nth cousin, I consider that relationship and the chain of ancestors and cousins between the nth cousin and myself to be "verified".
While this isn't necessarily academically rigorous, it is consistent with typical usage on Ancestry.com and other websites. It should therefore not be intepreted as any sort of proof in itself, and more as a source which suggests that the conventional research is likely to be correct.
On my Public Research Database, I apply the attribute "DNA Verified" as described above: anyone who is tagged with that attribute is on a chain of ancestors and cousins that is documented with conventional research and appears to be consistent with a DNA match.
As DNA matches are generally with living individuals, I do not publicly cite the specific match(es) used for each conclusion, in order to respect their privacy. However, citations for each match are stored in my private offline database, and I am happy to discuss the details privately with any other interested researchers.