(14 Jun 2026) The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities has, for the first time, publicly announced the exclusion of dozens of universities from its upcoming July 2026 edition for promoting fabricated data and inflated positions derived from using ‘predatory’ websites that are copycat ranking sites.
On 9 June, Isidro Aguillo, editor of the Webometrics rankings, wrote on his X: “The following Turkish universities (Türkiye) will be excluded from the official July 2026 Ranking Web of Universities (webometrics info) for promoting fake data from criminal mirror websites.”
Also on 8 June, Aguillo wrote on X: “The following [18] universities that have promoted fake results from criminal copies of the Webometrics Ranking on their websites will be excluded from the next official edition in July 2026.”
This action was prompted by a University World News report on 27 May on the emergence of a network of “predatory” websites mimicking the official Webometrics Ranking of World Universities that has led to the spread of fraudulent data across official university reports in 29 countries in Africa, Arab states, Asia and Europe.
Fraudulent websites took advantage of the original site’s downtime to hijack the Webometrics brand and publish illegitimate ranks.
Read more here.
