The Webometrics University Ranking website ceased to function in 2025 due to an inability to obtain citation data from Google Scholar. Since then, Webometrics University Ranking data has been published on the Figshare server, but the values of the three individual indicators have not been ranked. From July 2025 onwards, the Openness indicator values for citations have been calculated using OpenAlex via the ROR identifier. Data on the ranking of all three indicators will be provided twice a year in the form of an Excel file on a paid basis. Examples of universities included in the TOP-2,000 of the January 2025 and July 2025 Webometrics Rankings, which had missing legitimate Institutional Google Scholar Citation profiles, demonstrate a sharp increase in their rankings when switching to the new methodology for calculating Openness indicator values. Experiments on the webometric ranking of universities with missing IGSCPs included in the TOP - 2,000, when restored, showed identical average changes in world rankings, both in experiments using the old methodology and when transitioning from the old methodology to the new one together with the strong rank correlation of two adjacent Webometrics University Rankings in time led to the conclusion that the transition to the new methodology will have virtually no effect on university rankings.The importance of creating and maintaining Institutional Google Scholar Citation profiles, despite changes in the Webometrics University Ranking calculation methodology, has been demonstrated.
В. М. Московкин (Tue,) studied this question.