Research Integrity Risk Index (RI²) is a bibliometric-based risk indicator developed by Lokman Meho, an information scientist at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

to assess research integrity vulnerabilities in global academic institutions. It evaluates universities based on the rate of retracted articles and the proportion of publications in delisted journals, offering an alternative to conventional research rankings.

Background

Traditional global university rankings tend to prioritize output and citation metrics. The RI² index offers a complementary lens focused on research reliability and ethical publishing practices. It was created to highlight patterns of publication misconduct or structural weaknesses in institutional oversight.Meho, L. I. (2025). "Gaming the Metrics? Bibliometric Anomalies and the Integrity Crisis in Global Research." arXiv:2505.06448.

Methodology

The RI² score is computed using two indicators: # Retraction Risk: Number of retracted articles per 1,000 publications over the latest two calendar years. # Delisted Journal Risk: Percentage of articles published in journals removed from

Scopus Scopus is a scientific abstract and citation database, launched by the academic publisher Elsevier as a competitor to older Web of Science in 2004. The ensuing competition between the two databases has been characterized as "intense" and is c ...

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in the same period. Universities are independently ranked on each dimension, and ranks are summed to compute the RI² score: :RI² = Rank_retraction + Rank_delisted

Risk tiers

Institutions are assigned to tiers based on their RI² percentiles: * Red flag (RI² ≥ 0.2513) – * High risk (RI² ≥ 0.1757 and < 0.2513) – * Watch list (RI² ≥ 0.0989 and < 0.1757) – * Normal variation (RI² ≥ 0.0491 and < 0.0989) – * Low risk (RI² < 0.0491) –

Red-flagged universities by Research Integrity Risk Index (RI²)

This table lists the universities flagged as highest-risk (Red Tier) in the Research Integrity Risk Index (RI²). Note: Retraction and delisted journal data are sourced from Meho (2025), Nature (Van Noorden 2025), and RI² database curated by the American University of Beirut.

Key findings

The index is designed as a risk monitor, not a ranking of prestige. According to its creator, over-reliance on flawed bibliometrics incentives may allow paper mills, unethical collaborations, or manipulation of editorial and peer-review processes to go undetected in standard rankings.

External reception

The methodology and findings have drawn international attention.{{Cite web , title="研究诚信风险指数"提示高撤稿率大学—新闻—科学网 , url=https://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2025/6/545465.shtm , access-date=2025-06-09 , website=news.sciencenet.cn A 2025 article in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' spotlighted universities with unusually high numbers of retractions, citing RI² data in its analysis.

References

External links

Official RI² Dashboard

Preprint: "Gaming the Metrics?" (arXiv)

Nature News: Most Retracted Universities (2025)
Academic publishing Scientific misconduct Research-related lists University and college rankings Research ethics