| Indicator | University Z-score | Average country Z-score |
|---|---|---|
|
Multi-affiliation
|
2.670 | 0.936 |
|
Retracted Output
|
-0.334 | 0.771 |
|
Institutional Self-Citation
|
0.639 | 0.909 |
|
Discontinued Journals Output
|
-0.136 | 0.157 |
|
Hyperauthored Output
|
-1.258 | -1.105 |
|
Leadership Impact Gap
|
1.360 | 0.081 |
|
Hyperprolific Authors
|
-1.413 | -0.967 |
|
Institutional Journal Output
|
-0.268 | -0.268 |
|
Redundant Output
|
-0.205 | 0.966 |
Relizane University presents a balanced scientific integrity profile, with an overall risk score of -0.002 that indicates general alignment with expected standards. The institution demonstrates significant strengths and robust control mechanisms in areas related to individual author conduct and the selection of publication venues, showing very low risk in hyper-prolific authorship, hyper-authorship, and output in institutional journals. However, areas of medium risk emerge in systemic indicators such as the Rate of Multiple Affiliations, Institutional Self-Citation, and the Gap between total and leadership impact, which suggest a need for strategic review of collaboration and citation policies. According to SCImago Institutions Rankings data, the university's research strengths are most prominent in Chemistry, where it ranks 4th nationally, as well as in Earth and Planetary Sciences. The identified risks, particularly those related to potential impact dependency and affiliation inflation, could challenge the university's pursuit of genuine scientific excellence and its social responsibility to produce transparent, verifiable knowledge. To build upon its solid foundation, it is recommended that the university focuses on strengthening its research independence and ensuring its collaborative frameworks are fully substantive, thereby aligning its operational integrity with its academic potential.
Relizane University shows a Z-score of 2.670 for this indicator, a value considerably higher than the national average of 0.936. This suggests that the institution has a high exposure to the risk factors associated with affiliation practices and is more prone to generating alert signals than its national peers. While multiple affiliations are often a legitimate result of researcher mobility or partnerships, disproportionately high rates can signal strategic attempts to inflate institutional credit or “affiliation shopping.” The observed score warrants a careful review of affiliation policies to ensure that all declared institutional links correspond to substantive, active collaborations and do not serve to artificially enhance the university's perceived research footprint.
The institution's Z-score of -0.334 is well below the national average of 0.771, which shows a medium level of risk. This demonstrates a clear institutional resilience, where internal control mechanisms appear to be effectively mitigating the systemic risks related to publication quality that are more prevalent in the country. A low rate of retractions suggests that the university's quality control and supervision mechanisms prior to publication are functioning effectively. This positive result indicates a healthy integrity culture and a commitment to methodological rigor that prevents the kind of recurring errors or malpractice that can lead to retractions.
With a Z-score of 0.639, the university's rate of institutional self-citation is below the national average of 0.909, although both fall within the medium-risk category. This indicates a differentiated management approach, where the institution successfully moderates a risk that appears to be more common or pronounced across the country. A certain level of self-citation is natural, reflecting the continuity of research lines. However, the medium-risk context suggests that attention is still required to avoid the creation of 'echo chambers.' The university's relative control in this area helps mitigate the risk of endogamous impact inflation, but continued monitoring is advisable to ensure its academic influence is validated by the global community, not just internal dynamics.
The university's Z-score of -0.136 contrasts favorably with the national average of 0.157. This pattern points to strong institutional resilience, as the university's control mechanisms appear to successfully mitigate the systemic national risks of publishing in low-quality or discontinued journals. This low score is a positive sign of due diligence in selecting dissemination channels. It indicates that the institution's researchers are effectively avoiding predatory or substandard media, thereby protecting the university from reputational damage and ensuring that research efforts are channeled into valuable and recognized outlets.
The institution records a Z-score of -1.258, which is slightly lower than the national average of -1.105. This result demonstrates low-profile consistency, where the complete absence of risk signals at the university aligns perfectly with the low-risk standard observed nationally. This indicates that authorship practices are well-managed and transparent. The data suggests that author lists accurately reflect meaningful contributions, successfully avoiding the risk of inflation or 'honorary' authorships that can dilute individual accountability and compromise scientific transparency.
Relizane University has a Z-score of 1.360 in this area, significantly exceeding the national average of 0.081. This high exposure suggests the institution is more prone than its national counterparts to a dependency on external partners for achieving high-impact research. A wide positive gap, where overall impact is high but the impact of institution-led research is low, signals a potential sustainability risk. This score invites a strategic reflection on whether the university's prestige is derived from its own structural capacity or from a supporting role in collaborations where it does not exercise intellectual leadership, highlighting a need to foster more home-grown, high-impact research.
The institution's Z-score of -1.413 is notably lower than the already low national average of -0.967. This signifies a state of total operational silence, with an absence of risk signals that is even more pronounced than the national norm. This excellent result indicates that there are no authors with extreme publication volumes that would challenge the limits of meaningful intellectual contribution. It points to a healthy balance between quantity and quality, and suggests the institution is free from practices like coercive or honorary authorship that prioritize metrics over the integrity of the scientific record.
Relizane University's Z-score of -0.268 is identical to the national average. This reflects a perfect integrity synchrony, showing complete alignment with a national environment of maximum security in this regard. The very low score indicates that the university does not excessively depend on its own in-house journals for publication, thereby avoiding potential conflicts of interest and academic endogamy. This practice ensures that its scientific output is validated through independent external peer review, enhancing its global visibility and credibility.
The university's Z-score of -0.205 is significantly lower than the national average of 0.966. This demonstrates strong institutional resilience, as the university's practices effectively counteract the higher systemic risk of redundant publications seen across the country. A low score in this indicator is a positive sign that researchers are not engaging in 'salami slicing'—the practice of fragmenting a single study into multiple minimal publications to inflate output. This reflects a commitment to publishing significant, coherent new knowledge rather than prioritizing volume, which upholds the integrity of the scientific evidence base.
