To provide a polishing carrier capable of preventing the occurrence of damage in the outer peripheral surface of an article to be polished, caused by sliding between the inner peripheral surface of the polishing carrier holding hole and the outer peripheral side of the article to be polished, a polishing method, and a method for manufacturing an information recording medium substrate.

In a polishing carrier L provided with a polished article holding portion 2 having a holding hole 2a for holding a magnetic recording medium glass substrate as an article to be polished, and a gear portion 3 provided in the outer periphery of the polished article holding portion 2, a plurality of projections 2b for supporting the article to be polished in contact with the outer peripheral surface thereof is provided in the inner peripheral surface of the holding hole 2a, and a spacing between these projections 2b is set larger than the peripheral width of each projection 2b in the inner peripheral surface of the holding hole 2a.