Centre for Civic Education (CCE) pointed out in its press release of 2 March 2026 the weak positioning of the University of Montenegro (UCG) on international rankings that assess higher education institutions based on various academic and research criteria. One of the referenced rankings, primarily due to the University of Montenegro’s previous frequent interpretation of such data, is the Webometrics Ranking, produced by the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). A day later, UCG issued a statement presenting different data regarding its ranking on the Webometrics list, emphasizing that the 1554th place in the January 2026 edition represents a historic success for the institution. In order to ensure accurate public information, CCE notes that the data source used by UCG is not connected to the original Webometrics ranking published by the Cybermetrics Lab since 2004.
While CCE relied on official and academically relevant sources, UCG in its response referred to data taken from a website that has no connection to the original source and is not considered reliable within professional circles. We would like to believe that this was an unintentional oversight rather than a deliberate attempt to manipulate information by this higher education institution.
The website Webometrics.org, used by UCG as a source, is not relevant and is often used for the dissemination of fabricated data. It is worth noting that the website itself contains a disclaimer clearly stating that it is an independent platform with no connection to CSIC. Additionally, official documents published twice a year by the Cybermetrics Lab include warnings about possible misinterpretations and misuse of data by other websites using similar names. It is particularly concerning that UCG sponsored a social media post containing misleading information, thereby using public funds to disseminate inaccurate information.
It is also unusual that UCG had relied on the original Cybermetrics Lab data in its earlier statements, while the leadership in this instance, for unclear reasons, chose to consult unreliable sources.
Furthermore, through direct communication with the researchers who compile the original Webometrics ranking, CCE received confirmation that the data used in our previous statement were correct, along with a warning about increasingly frequent fraudulent activities related to a growing number of websites misusing the same name.
For the sake of full clarification, we emphasize that the only official data on university rankings for January 2026 are contained in the publication released by the Cybermetrics Lab via the Figshare platform – https://figshare.com/articles/preprint/Ranking_Web_of_Universities_webometrics_info_January_2026_edition/31132501?file=61275280 , given that the Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities website is no longer operational. All other sources should therefore be treated with serious caution.
CCE calls on UCG to correct this information on its website, remove the sponsored post, and initiate a process to determine responsibility in this case. Academic integrity requires responsibility, transparency, and accuracy, especially when it comes to information that affects the reputation of the institution itself.
Ivan Kašćelan, Project Assistant