15%
C) Quality, Trust & Integrity

The Quality, Trust & Integrity indicator evaluates the reliability, transparency, ethical standards, and scholarly credibility of research activity across the global academic ecosystem.

This indicator focuses on the quality and trustworthiness of research outputs by examining factors related to open access practices, indexing quality, publication integrity, transparency standards, correction records, and participation in trusted scholarly infrastructures.

Rather than measuring only productivity or citation performance, this category helps identify entities that contribute to responsible, transparent, and high-quality scholarly communication.

Within the UNIRANKS Open Index framework, this indicator helps answer an essential question:

How trustworthy, transparent, reliable, and academically credible is this entity’s research ecosystem?

Modern research evaluation should not focus only on quantity or citations. The credibility of scholarly outputs, the integrity of publishing practices, and the openness of knowledge sharing are equally important in assessing real academic excellence.

Research ecosystems today face increasing concerns related to predatory publishing, low-quality indexing, unethical publishing practices, retractions, manipulation of citations, and lack of transparency.

The Quality, Trust & Integrity indicator helps create a more responsible evaluation framework by recognizing entities that maintain strong scholarly standards, support open science practices, and demonstrate long-term research reliability.

This creates a more balanced understanding of academic quality beyond traditional bibliometric measurements.

Weight: 3%

Commitment to open and accessible research

The Open Access Score evaluates the extent to which an entity contributes to openly accessible scholarly knowledge.

This indicator measures participation in open science ecosystems and the availability of research outputs to students, researchers, policymakers, and the broader public without access restrictions.

It considers:

• Share of open access publications
• Participation in open science initiatives
• Accessibility of scholarly outputs
• Openness of research dissemination
• Contribution to global knowledge accessibility

This helps recognize entities supporting transparent and accessible scholarly communication.

Weight: 2%

Presence within recognized scholarly infrastructures

The Trusted Indexing Score evaluates the quality and credibility of the indexing ecosystems connected to an entity’s research outputs.

This indicator focuses on participation in established and recognized scholarly databases, indexing systems, and trusted research infrastructures.

It considers:

• Presence in recognized scholarly indexes
• Integration with trusted research databases
• Visibility within reputable academic infrastructures
• Indexing credibility and stability
• Scholarly ecosystem recognition

This helps distinguish research connected to stronger and more reliable academic infrastructures.

Weight: 2%

Research correction transparency and integrity

This indicator evaluates how an entity manages corrections, retractions, and integrity-related scholarly records within the research ecosystem.

Rather than penalizing transparency, this metric values responsible correction behavior and ethical scholarly practices.

It considers:

• Transparency of corrections and retractions
• Integrity management practices
• Responsible publishing behavior
• Ethical handling of scholarly records
• Commitment to research accountability

This supports healthier and more transparent academic ecosystems.

Weight: 2%

Scholarly publishing environment quality

The Source Quality Score evaluates the overall quality and credibility of the journals, conference proceedings, repositories, and publishing sources associated with an entity’s research outputs.

It considers:

• Publishing source credibility
• Journal and conference quality signals
• Scholarly publishing standards
• Reliability of publication environments
• Association with recognized academic outlets

This helps assess the overall strength of an entity’s publishing ecosystem.

Weight: 2%

Stability of academic recognition

The Peer Recognition Reliability Score measures the consistency and reliability of scholarly recognition received from the academic community.

This indicator evaluates whether research influence is broad, stable, and sustained rather than temporary or artificially concentrated.

It considers:

• Stability of citation recognition
• Consistency of academic influence
• Breadth of scholarly acknowledgment
• Reliability of peer engagement
• Long-term recognition patterns

This creates a more dependable measure of academic credibility.

Weight: 2%

Openness and transparency of scholarly practices

The Research Transparency Score evaluates how openly and transparently research information, metadata, affiliations, authorship, and scholarly relationships are presented within the research ecosystem.

It considers:

• Transparency of metadata
• Clear authorship and affiliation structures
• Availability of publication information
• Research relationship visibility
• Openness of scholarly records

This helps strengthen confidence in research reliability and traceability.

Weight: 2%

Indicators of potential research integrity concerns

The Scholarly Integrity Risk Score evaluates signals associated with potential integrity concerns within scholarly publishing and research behavior.

This indicator helps identify abnormal or potentially unreliable scholarly patterns while supporting healthier academic ecosystems.

It considers:

• Unusual citation behaviors
• Potential manipulation indicators
• Publishing irregularities
• Integrity-related risk patterns
• Reliability consistency signals

This contributes to maintaining trust within the global research ecosystem.

The UNIRANKS Open Index methodology is built around multiple interconnected indicators designed to evaluate research ecosystems from different perspectives, including scholarly impact, openness, collaboration, trust, growth, societal contribution, and ecosystem alignment.

Each indicator explores a unique dimension of research performance to provide a broader and more balanced understanding of global scholarly activity beyond traditional ranking models.

A) Core Output & Scale: 15%

Measuring the Foundation of Research Activity

Evaluate scholarly production volume, publication growth, productivity performance, and research scale across the global academic ecosystem.

Explore Core Output & Scale →

B) Impact & Excellence: 20%

Understanding Scholarly Influence and Research Recognition

Analyze citation impact, academic influence, research excellence, and the global visibility of scholarly contributions.

Explore Impact & Excellence →

C) Quality, Trust & Integrity: 15%

Evaluating Reliability and Research Credibility

Measure research trustworthiness through integrity indicators, publication quality signals, indexing standards, and scholarly reliability metrics.

Explore Quality, Trust & Integrity →

D) Open Science & Accessibility: 10%

Measuring Openness and Knowledge Accessibility

Assess open access availability, public research visibility, accessibility practices, and participation in open scholarly ecosystems.

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E) Collaboration & Global Reach: 15%

Mapping Research Connectivity Across Borders

Evaluate international collaboration, institutional partnerships, co-authorship networks, and global scholarly engagement.

Explore Collaboration & Global Reach →

F) Portfolio Strength & Momentum: 10%

Analyzing Research Diversity and Development Trends

Measure the breadth, sustainability, specialization, and evolving momentum of scholarly research portfolios over time.

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G) Knowledge Transfer & Societal Influence: 10%

Measuring Research Contribution Beyond Academia

Evaluate how research supports innovation, policy development, industry engagement, education, healthcare, sustainability, and societal advancement.

Explore Knowledge Transfer & Societal Influence →

H) OI Alignment: 05%

Measuring Ecosystem Compatibility and Open Index Readiness

Assess how effectively entities align with the UNIRANKS Open Index framework, structured scholarly ecosystems, openness standards, and research connectivity models.

Explore OI Alignment →

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