The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) previously pointed out that the University of Montenegro (UoM) had been removed from the publicly available Webometrics ranking due to its dissemination of fabricated data concerning its ranking and its persistent refusal to correct that information. Given the significance of this case and the public attention it has attracted, we consider it useful to provide further clarification of several important facts that offer a more comprehensive insight into the circumstances surrounding the case.
Webometrics is one of the best-known international university rankings. Since 2004, it has ranked more than 30,000 higher education institutions worldwide twice a year, based on their visibility, impact and online presence. In recent years, a growing number of platforms have emerged that publish their own rankings while referring to Webometrics or using its name in a manner that may create the impression of a connection with the original ranking system, although no such connection exists. Due to their non-transparent methodologies, questionable credibility and lack of any connection with the official Webometrics system, the data published by such platforms cannot be regarded as relevant indicators. Presenting such data to the public as official Webometrics results constitutes a serious violation of academic integrity and fundamental ethical principles.
“It is shameful that reputable universities, without verifying the source, authorship or methodology, decided to use and promote unreliable information from these fraudulent sources. By all professional standards, such conduct should have consequences for the international visibility of universities. We therefore decided to exclude the organisations involved from our publicly available results,” stated Isidro Aguillo, one of the leading figures behind the Webometrics ranking and a researcher at the Cybermetrics Lab, stressing the unacceptability of such conduct.
In practice, this means that the UoM is no longer included in the publicly available Webometrics ranking, which is published twice a year through the Figshare platform and represents one of the key reference points for students, researchers, academic staff and other users worldwide. Although the UoM remains recorded in the complete internal database, which can be accessed only upon request and subject to payment of a fee, its ranking is no longer publicly available or easily verifiable. The UoM has thus lost one of the most important benefits of its presence in this ranking – international visibility and transparency.
However, far more serious than the loss of visibility is the damage caused to the credibility and academic integrity of the UoM. CCE recalls that, in recent years, the international academic community has devoted increasing attention to the problem of predatory rankings and fabricated data, which is why the UoM case has also been examined in analyses and expert commentaries published by relevant international platforms. This outcome further reinforces the negative perception of the case and raises serious questions regarding accountability for the management of Montenegro’s oldest higher education institution. The consequences of such conduct are borne not only by the UoM leadership but also by its teaching and research staff, as well as by thousands of students who rightly expect the reputation of their institution to be protected responsibly and in accordance with the highest professional standards.
Unfortunately, the UoM leadership has demonstrated neither the ability to respond adequately to this situation nor the willingness to protect the reputation and academic integrity of the institution it manages. Those responsible continue to remain silent, despite the fact that the consequences of their actions are now visible at the international level. CCE therefore once again calls on the UoM leadership, headed by Rector Vladimir Božović, to correct the inaccurate information without delay, establish individual responsibility for this case and undertake all necessary measures to prevent any further deterioration of the UoM’s reputation and restore confidence in its academic integrity.
Ivan Kašćelan, Project Assistant