Centre for Civic Education accuses University of Montenegro leadership: Academic integrity cannot be built on fabricated data

Following the removal of the University of Montenegro from the publicly accessible Webometrics ranking, the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) has once again accused the university's leadership of disseminating inaccurate information and called for accountability, warning that both students and the wider academic community are bearing the consequences.

- The Centre for Civic Education previously pointed out that the University of Montenegro (UoM) had been removed from the publicly accessible Webometrics ranking after publishing fabricated information about its ranking position and persistently refusing to correct those data. Given the significance of this case and the public attention it has attracted, we believe it is useful to further clarify several important facts that provide a more complete understanding of the circumstances - the NGO said in a statement.

Webometrics is one of the world's best-known international university rankings. Since 2004, it has ranked more than 30,000 higher education institutions twice a year based on their web presence, visibility, and impact. In recent years, the CCE noted, a growing number of platforms have begun publishing their own university rankings while referring to Webometrics or using its name in a way that may create the false impression of an affiliation with the original ranking system, although no such connection exists.

According to the CCE, the data published by such platforms cannot be regarded as reliable indicators because of their non-transparent methodology, questionable credibility, and lack of any link to the official Webometrics system. Presenting those results to the public as official Webometrics rankings, the organization argues, constitutes a serious breach of academic integrity and fundamental ethical standards.

- It is disgraceful that reputable universities, without verifying the source, authorship, or methodology, decided to use and promote unreliable information from these fake sources. By every professional standard, such conduct should have consequences for a university's international visibility. We therefore decided to exclude the institutions involved from our publicly accessible results - said Isidro Aguillo, one of the leading developers of the Webometrics ranking and a researcher at Cybermetrics Lab, stressing that such practices are unacceptable.

In practical terms, this means that the University of Montenegro is no longer included in the publicly accessible Webometrics rankings, which are published twice a year through the Figshare platform and serve as one of the key reference sources for students, researchers, academic staff, and other users around the world.

- Although the University of Montenegro remains listed in the complete internal database, which is available only upon request and subject to a fee, its ranking is no longer publicly accessible or easily verifiable. As a result, the University has lost one of the principal benefits of being included in the ranking - international visibility and transparency - the CCE said.

However, the organization argues that the damage to the university's credibility and academic integrity is far more serious than the loss of visibility. The CCE notes that in recent years the international academic community has devoted increasing attention to the problem of predatory rankings and fabricated data, which has resulted in the University of Montenegro case being discussed in analyses and expert commentaries published by relevant international platforms.

- This outcome further reinforces the negative perception of the case and raises serious questions about accountability in the management of Montenegro's oldest higher education institution. The consequences of such conduct are borne not only by the university's leadership, but also by its teaching and research staff, as well as by thousands of students who have every right to expect that the reputation of their institution will be protected responsibly and in accordance with the highest professional standards - the CCE emphasized.

The organization added that the University's leadership has demonstrated neither the ability to respond appropriately to the situation nor the willingness to safeguard the institution's reputation and academic integrity.

- Those responsible remain silent, even though the consequences of their actions are now visible internationally. The CCE therefore once again calls on the University of Montenegro's leadership, headed by Rector Vladimir Božović, to correct the inaccurate information without delay, establish individual accountability for this case, and take all necessary measures to halt the further erosion of the University's reputation and restore confidence in its academic integrity - the statement concluded.