Normandie Universite

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND STRATEGIC VISION

Normandie Université presents a robust integrity profile characterized by significant strengths in core research practices, alongside a critical vulnerability that requires strategic attention. With an overall score of 0.453, the institution demonstrates exceptional control over quality assurance, evidenced by very low rates of retracted output and publication in discontinued journals. This foundation of reliability is complemented by a prudent approach to authorship and citation, outperforming national averages in managing institutional self-citation and hyperprolific authors. However, this positive landscape is contrasted by a significant risk in the Rate of Multiple Affiliations, which markedly exceeds the national trend and signals a potential overemphasis on strategic positioning. The university's thematic strengths, particularly in Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics, Chemistry, and Medicine, as per SCImago Institutions Rankings data, provide a solid platform for global recognition. To fully realize its mission of combining strengths and driving regional development, it is crucial to address the affiliation risk. Unchecked, this practice could undermine the goal of building genuine internal capacity and could contradict the mission's emphasis on a "training – research – value creation – transfer continuum" by prioritizing credit over substantive collaboration. By leveraging its clear strengths in research integrity to mitigate this specific vulnerability, Normandie Université can ensure its growing attractiveness is built upon a foundation of verifiable excellence and sustainable scientific leadership.

ANALYSIS BY INDICATOR

Rate of Multiple Affiliations

The institution exhibits a Z-score of 7.826, a value that indicates a significant risk and is substantially higher than the national average of 0.648. This finding suggests that the university is not merely participating in a national trend but is actively amplifying it. While multiple affiliations can be a legitimate outcome of collaboration, this disproportionately high rate signals a critical need to review authorship and affiliation policies. The data points towards a potential systemic practice of "affiliation shopping" or strategic credit inflation, which, if unmanaged, could dilute the institution's distinct academic identity and misrepresent its core research contributions.

Rate of Retracted Output

With a Z-score of -0.606, the institution demonstrates a very low rate of retracted publications, performing even better than the low-risk national average of -0.189. This low-profile consistency is a strong indicator of effective pre-publication quality control and responsible post-publication supervision. The absence of significant risk signals in this area, in alignment with the national standard, suggests that the university's mechanisms for ensuring methodological rigor and research integrity are robust and function as intended, fostering a culture of scientific responsibility.

Rate of Institutional Self-Citation

The institution maintains a Z-score of -0.596, reflecting a prudent profile that is more rigorous than the national standard (Z-score of -0.200). This lower-than-average rate indicates that the university's research is well-integrated into the global scientific discourse and relies on external validation rather than internal "echo chambers." A certain level of self-citation is natural, but this result confirms that the institution successfully avoids the risk of endogamous impact inflation, ensuring its academic influence is a reflection of genuine recognition by the wider research community.

Rate of Output in Discontinued Journals

The institution's Z-score of -0.451 is virtually identical to the national average of -0.450, demonstrating perfect integrity synchrony with a national environment of maximum scientific security. This alignment confirms that the university's researchers exercise excellent due diligence in selecting reputable dissemination channels. The complete absence of risk signals indicates a strong institutional awareness and effective policies that prevent the channeling of scientific production through media that fail to meet international ethical or quality standards, thereby safeguarding institutional reputation and resources.

Rate of Hyper-Authored Output

Normandie Université shows a Z-score of 1.077 in this indicator, placing it at a medium risk level and revealing a higher exposure compared to the national average of 0.859. This moderate deviation suggests the institution is more prone to author list inflation than its peers. While extensive author lists are legitimate in "Big Science," this elevated rate warrants internal review to distinguish necessary massive collaborations from potential "honorary" or political authorship practices that can dilute individual accountability and transparency in the research process.

Gap between Impact of total output and the impact of output with leadership

The institution records a Z-score of 0.469, which, while indicating a medium risk, is notably lower than the national average of 0.512. This reflects a differentiated management approach, where the university moderates a risk that appears more common across the country. A wide positive gap can signal that scientific prestige is overly dependent on external partners. By maintaining a smaller gap, the institution demonstrates a healthier balance, suggesting it is building more structural, internal capacity for high-impact research and exercising greater intellectual leadership within its collaborations.

Rate of Hyperprolific Authors

With a Z-score of -0.876, the institution displays a prudent profile, showing a lower incidence of hyperprolific authors than the national standard (-0.654). This demonstrates that the university manages its research processes with more rigor than its national peers. This result mitigates concerns about potential imbalances between quantity and quality, such as coercive authorship or superficial contributions, and reinforces a culture that prioritizes the integrity of the scientific record over the simple inflation of publication metrics.

Rate of Output in Institutional Journals

The institution's Z-score of -0.268 shows an integrity synchrony, being in total alignment with the country's very low-risk average of -0.246. This result indicates a strong commitment to independent, external peer review and global visibility. By avoiding excessive dependence on in-house journals, the university effectively mitigates the risks of academic endogamy and potential conflicts of interest, ensuring its scientific production is validated through standard, competitive international channels rather than internal "fast tracks."

Rate of Redundant Output

The institution's Z-score for redundant output is 0.185, a medium-risk value that is considerably lower than the national average of 0.387. This demonstrates differentiated and more effective management of a risk that is more prevalent nationally. The data suggests the university has stronger mechanisms to discourage "salami slicing"—the practice of fragmenting a single study into multiple minimal publications to inflate output. This focus on publishing more coherent and significant work protects the integrity of the scientific evidence base and respects the resources of the peer-review system.