In short: you are welcome to use this site and our rankings. They are our independent expert opinion, not advice and not accreditation, so check important decisions against official sources. We provide the site free of charge and as it is, and our responsibility for it is limited as far as the law allows.
1. About these terms
These terms govern your use of the RankingLab website at https://rankinglab.org and the rankings, data, documents and other content published on it (together, the "Site"). The Site is published by RankingLab ("RankingLab", "we", "us"), an independent, non-commercial research and publication project. By accessing or using the Site you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site.
These terms should be read together with the Legal Notice & Disclaimer, which explains the nature of our rankings, and the Privacy Notice.
2. What RankingLab is
RankingLab is an independent research project operated on a not-for-profit basis. It publishes rankings of academic and professional institutions, programs, credentials, providers and other entities, together with the methodology behind them, as an expression of its own views on matters of public interest. RankingLab has no commercial activity: it provides the Site free of charge, sells nothing, carries no advertising, receives no funding for its rankings and accepts no payment from the entities it ranks. Using the Site does not create any contractual, commercial or other relationship with RankingLab beyond these terms.
3. Rankings are opinions
Our rankings, scores, positions, bands, assessments and commentary are statements of opinion, formed by applying our published Methodology, including weighted criteria and editorial judgment, to the information available to us at the time. They are not statements of fact, guarantees or certifications about any entity. Rankings list top entries only and are not exhaustive; absence from a ranking is not a statement about any entity. See the Legal Notice & Disclaimer.
4. No reliance
The Site is provided for general information only. Nothing on it is admissions, career, hiring, procurement, investment, financial, legal or other professional advice, or a recommendation to deal with any entity. RankingLab is not an accreditor, regulator or recognition body. You are responsible for your own decisions and for checking any information that matters to you against official and primary sources. You agree that you do not rely on the Site as the sole or principal basis for any decision.
5. AI-assisted research
Our research uses AI systems to find, extract and cross-check information. AI-assisted research is verified and judged by people, and every ranking is the responsibility of our editorial panel, but AI-assisted processes, like human ones, can produce errors. How we use AI is described in the Responsible AI Use Policy.
6. No obligation to include, change or respond
RankingLab decides at its sole discretion what to research, assess, include, rank and publish, and when. No person or entity has a right to be assessed, included, ranked at any position, reassessed or removed, or to receive a response or reasons. Correspondence about a ranking is governed by the Review Requests & Corrections Policy. We correct published facts that we are satisfied are demonstrably wrong, but we do not undertake to review any request or to change any ranking or other editorial judgment.
7. Material you send us
We do not solicit information, documents or proposals. If you nonetheless send us any, you confirm that you are entitled to do so, and you agree that we may use it for our research and publications, verify it with its source, and keep it for our records. We owe no duty of confidentiality for material sent to us unless we have expressly agreed to one in writing in advance. Sending us material does not create any relationship or any obligation on our part to reply, to use it or to return it.
8. Availability and changes
We may change, suspend or withdraw any part of the Site, any ranking or any edition at any time, without notice and without liability. Rankings are published in versioned editions and may be updated between editions.
9. No warranty
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Site and all content are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of accuracy, completeness, currency, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement or uninterrupted availability.
10. Limitation of liability
10.1 Exclusion. To the fullest extent permitted by law, RankingLab and everyone who takes part in it, including its team, volunteers, editors, assessors and advisers (together, the "RankingLab parties"), are not liable, in contract, tort (including negligence), under statute or otherwise, for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with the Site, its content, or the publication of, reliance on or use of any ranking, including any loss arising from the inclusion, omission or position of any entity. This includes, without limitation, indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, and loss of profit, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, reputation or data.
10.2 Cap. Where, despite section 10.1, any RankingLab party is found liable, its total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or in connection with the Site is limited, to the extent permitted by law, to one hundred euros (EUR 100). The Site is provided free of charge, and this limit reflects that.
10.3 What we do not exclude. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for wilful misconduct or gross negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under the law that applies. Where the law limits how far liability may be excluded or limited, our liability is excluded or limited to the maximum extent that law permits.
11. Your responsibilities
When using the Site, you agree not to:
- use it for any unlawful purpose;
- attempt to disrupt, overload, scrape at a scale that burdens, or gain unauthorized access to the Site or its systems;
- misrepresent our rankings, present them as accreditation or endorsement, or quote them in a misleading way;
- impersonate RankingLab, its volunteers or its assessors, or offer to sell rankings, positions or badges on our behalf;
- attempt to influence a ranking through payment, gifts, pressure or threats.
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify the RankingLab parties against claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of this section, including any misrepresentation of our rankings by you.
12. Licence to use our content
Unless stated otherwise, RankingLab text and ranking data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). Details, citation guidance and rules for referring to results are in the Citation, Name & Badge Use Policy.
13. Trademarks
The RankingLab name, logo and badges are not covered by the CC BY 4.0 licence and may be used only as described in the Citation, Name & Badge Use Policy. Names and marks of other organizations belong to their owners. We use them only to identify those organizations; their use does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
14. External links
The Site links to external websites, such as institutional pages, registers and data sources. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, availability or practices. A link does not imply endorsement.
15. Our team and contact
To protect the independence of our work, we do not disclose the identities of our team, editorial panel or assessors. RankingLab acts as a single project, and no individual is personally a party to these terms. Our only point of contact for all purposes, including legal notices, is hi@rankinglab.org.
16. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. Changes are published on this page with a new effective date. The terms in force when you use the Site apply to that use.
17. Disputes
Before bringing any claim arising out of or in connection with the Site, you agree to notify us in writing at hi@rankinglab.org, describing the matter, and to allow us 30 days to consider it.
To the extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of or in connection with the Site must be brought within one year after the facts giving rise to it first became known, or could reasonably have become known, to the claimant.
Nothing in these terms deprives you of any mandatory protection that the law of the country where you live gives you as a consumer.
18. General
- Severability. If any provision of these terms is found invalid or unenforceable, it applies to the maximum extent permitted, and the remaining provisions continue in full force.
- No waiver. A failure or delay in enforcing any provision is not a waiver of it.
- No third-party rights. These terms do not give any right to anyone other than you and the RankingLab parties.
- Entire terms. These terms, with the documents they refer to, are the entire terms between you and RankingLab about the Site.
- Language. These terms are written in English. Any translation is for convenience only.
19. Contact
Questions about these terms can be sent to hi@rankinglab.org.