ELIGIBILITY RULES

Published criteria used by the automatic certificate engine

Each scope is evaluated independently and is recorded permanently with the issued certificate.

Profile-based certificates

Verified Research Profile: 1+ indexed work. Research Contribution: 10+ indexed works. Citation Impact: 100+ indexed citations. H-index Achievement: h-index 10+. High Impact Scholar: h-index 20+ and 1,000+ indexed citations.

Rank-based certificates

Global, country, institution, subject/topic, state/region and gender-cohort rank certificates use the same percentile thresholds: Top 10%, Top 5%, Top 2% and Top 1%. The calculation is rank position ÷ evaluated population × 100. Each scope is calculated separately.

State/region and gender safeguards

Open scholarly records do not provide a reliable universal gender or state cohort for every researcher. ResearchRank therefore issues these cohort certificates only when administrators have verified or received self-declared cohort metadata. Gender is never inferred from a name, photo, institution or country.

Current-data re-evaluation

Eligibility is recalculated when an order is created. Historical screenshots do not override the current server-side assessment.

Independence

These are ResearchRank certification classes based on the displayed scholarly data and rules. They are not awards issued or endorsed by OpenAlex.

DETAILED GUIDANCE

Detailed service guidance

ResearchRank separates source data, analytical calculations, eligibility, payment, issuance and permanent verification so each step can be understood independently.

How should this page be interpreted?

Source-linked scholarly metadata describes the profile; ResearchRank calculations add ranking and recognition context. Eligibility is assessed independently of payment, and the certificate registry records the issued recognition separately from the changing live profile.

What happens when research data changes?

Profiles and rankings may change when indexed works, citations, affiliations, topics, open-access status or source records refresh. An issued certificate preserves its issue-time evidence and context; the live research profile can continue to evolve.

How are certification and payment separated?

Eligibility is determined before payment. Payment cannot create, increase or improve eligibility. Online payment must be verified by the server before certificate release; approved manual transfers follow the same issuance controls.

How are rankings and recognition calculated?

Ranking pages identify their ranking basis and evaluated population. Percentile recognition uses the profile's eligible ranking position relative to that population. Composite indicators are analytical aids and do not silently replace the stated ranking basis.

How is customer information protected?

Contact and delivery information is used for order fulfilment, certificate access, fraud prevention and limited transactional reminders. Sensitive payment credentials are handled by secure gateway components rather than stored in ResearchRank.

How does permanent verification work?

Each issued certificate receives a unique certificate number and verification record. Verification can show certificate status, issue date, recognition context and recorded scholarly evidence. A QR/reference on the PDF can point back to that record.

What are the limitations of bibliographic data?

Open scholarly metadata can contain author disambiguation errors, affiliation gaps, duplicate records, incomplete coverage and field differences. Source identifiers and linked records should be reviewed when the result is used for formal assessment.

What is the difference between live data and issue-time evidence?

Live data is refreshed for discovery and analytics. Issue-time evidence is the snapshot/context attached to the certificate transaction. This distinction helps preserve what was recognised even when current metrics later change.

How should ResearchRank recognition be described?

Use the exact certificate title and ResearchRank recognition class shown on the verification record. Do not describe a ResearchRank certificate as an official award or endorsement from OpenAlex, ORCID, a university, publisher or another external data source unless that organisation separately confirms it.