Privacy Policy
Research.com ("we," "us," or "our") is operated by Research USA LLC, located at 8 The Green, STE R, Dover, DE 19901, USA. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle information when you use Research.com and related online services that link to this policy (the "Site").
The Site provides educational content, rankings, comparisons, and links to third-party educational services. We do not operate school inquiry, lead, application, enrollment, or request-information forms. Our own forms are limited to a contact form and a newsletter and conference alerts subscription, described in Section 2. We do not collect or receive the personal information that users submit through forms operated by universities, education providers, or our advertising network partner, Esyoh.
We do not sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, or use it for targeted advertising. We do not use Google AdSense or place advertising or tracking pixels from Esyoh, universities, agencies, or other advertising partners on the Site.
1. Scope of this policy
This policy covers information handled by Research.com in connection with the Site, researcher profiles and rankings, and related communications with researchers, universities, university representatives, agencies, and other business partners. Separate privacy policies apply when you leave the Site and use a website or service operated by Esyoh, a university, an education provider, or another third party. The presence of a link or advertisement on Research.com does not make that third party’s privacy policy part of this policy.
2. Information handled by Research.com
Direct communications and contact form. If you email us, use the contact form on our Contact Us page, or otherwise contact us, we receive your email address, your name if provided, the purpose you select for your message (for example, adding a new scientist, updating conference information, feedback, or adding your brand), the content of your message, and any other information you choose to include. Please do not send Social Security numbers, financial account details, medical information, or other sensitive information that is unnecessary for your request.
Newsletter and conference alerts. If you subscribe to our newsletter and conference alerts, we collect your email address and records of your subscription, such as the date you subscribed and confirmed. We send a confirmation email, and your subscription becomes active only after you click the confirmation link. We use your email address to send the newsletter and conference alerts you requested. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any message or by contacting [email protected].
Professional profiles and contacts. We maintain researcher profiles and professional contact information for researchers, universities, and university representatives in connection with our rankings and awards. This information includes researchers’ names, institutional affiliations, country, bibliometric metrics such as the D-index, H-index, citation counts, and publication counts, profile and ranking information, awards, email addresses, photographs, and other professional information supplied for publication or updates. Institutional contact records may include a representative’s name, university, professional role, email address, and related correspondence. We also handle subscriptions, requests for ranking updates, and communication preferences, including requests not to receive future notifications.
Business partner contacts. When we work with agencies, advertisers, or other business partners, we handle the names, professional roles, business contact details, and correspondence of their representatives, together with contract, order, invoicing, and delivery records.
Website operation and server logs. Research.com does not use website analytics tools or collect visitor activity data for advertising targeting. Delivering the Site involves the technical processing necessary to respond to a browser’s request. Our servers and our hosting, content delivery, and security providers automatically record technical log data, such as IP address, date and time of the request, requested URL, referring page, browser and device type, and response status. We and these providers may also review aggregated traffic and security statistics derived from these logs, such as request volumes, error rates, and blocked threats. We use this information only to deliver the Site, maintain its performance, diagnose technical problems, and detect and prevent abuse and security incidents. We do not use it to build profiles of individual visitors or for advertising. This is separate from the collection of advertising and inquiry information by Esyoh or universities after a visitor leaves Research.com.
Partner reports. We receive business reports from advertising or referral partners for performance review and financial reconciliation. These reports do not enable Research.com to identify an individual or link a conversion to an identifiable person. We do not receive user-submitted lead, inquiry, application, enrollment, or financial aid information through these reports.
Sources of professional and ranking information. Our rankings of scientists are based primarily on bibliometric data from OpenAlex and Crossref, supported by other reputable data sources. From these sources we derive metrics such as the D-index (discipline H-index), H-index, citation counts, and publication counts, together with information about institutional affiliation, country, and awards and notable achievements. Our rankings of universities and academic programs use licensed information from Peterson’s, research data from OpenAlex, other publicly available information about institutions and programs, and program data submitted and confirmed by institutions or their authorized representatives, which we review before use. A description of our data sources and ranking methodology is available at https://research.com/our-methodology. Researchers also provide their contact details when subscribing to ranking updates or requesting those updates directly by email, and contact us to add or update profile information, including their university affiliation, photograph, and other professional details. Information about universities and their representatives comes from university websites, direct communications with us, and authorized representatives acting on a university’s behalf. A request to correct or update a profile does not, by itself, constitute a subscription to ranking notifications.
Email statistics. Our email delivery service provides estimated aggregate statistics, such as the percentage of emails opened and the percentage of clicks on links in an email. We use these summary statistics to understand the effectiveness of our communications. These email measurements are separate from website analytics and advertising tracking and are not used for behavioral advertising or provided to universities for campaign reporting.
3. How we use information
We use professional profile and contact information to prepare and maintain researcher profiles and rankings, communicate ranking positions and awards, manage requested updates and notification preferences, and respond to corrections or inquiries. We use direct communications, including contact form submissions, to respond to requests and handle privacy inquiries. We use newsletter subscription information to send the newsletter and conference alerts you requested and to manage your subscription. We use estimated aggregate email statistics to evaluate our communications. We use server logs and related technical information to deliver, operate, maintain, and secure the Site.
We use non-identifying partner reports to understand business performance, reconcile payments, and maintain business records. We do not use these reports to identify visitors or build profiles of individual users.
Where necessary, we may also use information to comply with legal obligations, respond to lawful requests, resolve disputes, or establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.
4. Ranking and award communications
We send researchers who have subscribed to ranking updates or directly requested them an annual notification about their awards and their positions in the new edition of our rankings. These researcher notifications are informational and do not contain commercial offers, paid promotional packages, or other sales content. They are separate from our commercial partnerships with educational institutions.
We also communicate with universities and their representatives about institutional awards and ranking results. These communications are informational only and do not contain commercial offers or sales content. We discuss commercial partnerships with a university only when the university or its authorized representative contacts us and asks about them. We respond separately to requests to add or update profile information. A subscription or request for ranking updates does not constitute a subscription to unrelated promotional messages. You may ask us to stop sending ranking and award notifications by contacting [email protected] or using an unsubscribe option provided in a message.
6. Advertisements and third-party destinations
Research.com displays advertisements, sponsored links, referral buttons, and similar features that may direct you to Esyoh, a university, an education provider, or another third-party destination. We may receive compensation for advertising or referral activity.
After you follow an advertisement and leave Research.com, the destination provider may collect information about your interaction and any information you submit. Esyoh and the relevant universities or providers are responsible for their own collection and handling of that information under their respective privacy policies.
Research.com does not collect or receive personal information submitted through those third-party forms. Requests concerning information you provide to Esyoh or a university should be directed to the organization that collected it. Please review the privacy policy displayed on the destination website before submitting information.
7. Commercial partnerships
Research.com may engage in commercial partnerships with educational institutions and other organizations, including paid mentions, sponsored content, and promotional placements for educational programs. These may also include paid preparation and processing of institution-confirmed program data for our rankings. Such payments do not affect our methodology, scores, eligibility decisions, or the order of results. More information is available at https://research.com/our-methodology. We do not ourselves send unsolicited commercial offers to universities. Partnership discussions with a university take place when the university or its authorized representative, such as an agency acting on its behalf, contacts us. Independent agencies act on their own behalf and are not authorized to represent Research.com. These partnerships do not involve sharing visitors’ personal information with participating institutions or organizations.
We do not provide universities or their agencies with reports based on visitors’ browsing activity or other individual user activity on Research.com.
8. When information may be disclosed
Published profiles and rankings. Professional information displayed in researcher profiles, ranking entries, and award listings is publicly accessible on the Site. This publication is distinct from sharing visitors’ personal information for advertising or campaign reporting.
Service providers. We may disclose limited information to providers that support hosting, security, website operations, email delivery, communication management, or email reporting. They may process information on our behalf for those services, subject to applicable contractual and legal requirements.
Legal and security purposes. We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law or valid legal process, protect rights and safety, investigate misuse, prevent fraud, or resolve disputes.
Business transactions and due diligence. We may disclose information reasonably necessary to evaluate, negotiate, or complete a proposed or actual merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of all or part of our business or assets. Recipients may include prospective or actual buyers, financing parties, and their and our legal, financial, or other professional advisers. Such disclosures are limited to the relevant transaction purpose and subject to appropriate confidentiality and access restrictions. Where a transaction proceeds, relevant information may be transferred to the successor or acquiring entity, subject to applicable law and the privacy commitments applicable to that information. We provide additional notice or obtain consent where legally required.
We do not provide visitors’ personal information to universities, advertisers, or their agencies for marketing, advertising attribution, or campaign reporting.
9. Retention and security
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. Relevant factors include maintaining accurate researcher profiles and ranking records, communicating annual ranking results, responding to correspondence, respecting communication preferences, protecting the Site, meeting legal requirements, and resolving disputes.
Professional contact information is retained while reasonably needed for requested ranking updates, relevant award communications, profile maintenance, and related correspondence, subject to rights under applicable law. Subscription or request records and communication preferences may be retained to document and respect those choices. If you ask us to stop sending ranking or award notifications, we stop those notifications and may retain a minimal record needed to respect your preference. Published profiles and historical ranking records are assessed separately from email notification preferences. Technical information is retained only as needed for its service and security purposes and applicable legal requirements. Aggregate email statistics and non-identifying financial or partner reports may be retained for communications review, accounting, and business recordkeeping. Newsletter subscription records are retained while your subscription is active and, after you unsubscribe, only as a minimal record needed to respect your preference. Contact form submissions are retained as long as needed to handle your request and related correspondence. Business partner contact information and contract, order, invoicing, and delivery records are retained for the duration of the relationship and afterward for as long as required by accounting, tax, and other legal obligations or needed to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect the information we handle. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Your privacy rights and choices
Depending on your location and the law applicable to our processing, you may have rights to confirm whether we process your personal information, access it, obtain a portable copy, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, or object to or restrict certain processing. Where processing depends on consent, you may withdraw it without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
To submit a request, email [email protected]. Please describe your request and provide enough information for us to locate any relevant records. We may request proportionate information to verify your identity or an authorized agent’s authority where required. We will respond within the period required by applicable law and will not discriminate against you for exercising applicable privacy rights.
If applicable law gives you a right to appeal a denied request, you may appeal by emailing [email protected] with the subject “Privacy Request Appeal.” We will explain the outcome and any further complaint options required by law. You may also have the right to complain to the relevant privacy regulator.
You may unsubscribe from ranking updates or from our newsletter and conference alerts, or ask us to stop sending ranking or award notifications, by emailing [email protected] or using an unsubscribe option provided in a message. You may also contact us to request correction of your professional contact details, profile information, or ranking-related records. A request to stop notifications does not automatically remove a published profile or ranking entry; requests concerning those records are reviewed separately under applicable law. We may still respond to an inquiry you initiate or send a communication required by law.
We do not sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, or process it for targeted advertising. Where applicable law requires us to act on a recognized privacy preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control, we honor that requirement. General browser “Do Not Track” signals do not change our practices except where required by law.
Our ability to respond is limited to information we actually hold or process. We do not seek to identify individuals from non-identifying partner reports solely to answer a privacy request. Rights relating to information held by Esyoh or universities should be exercised directly with those organizations.
11. Children’s privacy
The Site is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to Research.com, please contact [email protected]. If we learn that we have collected such information in violation of applicable law, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.
12. International processing
The Site primarily serves users in the United States, while our professional profiles and ranking communications may concern researchers and institutions in other countries. Information handled by Research.com or its service providers may be processed in the United States and other countries where those providers operate. Privacy laws in those countries may differ from those in your country.
Where applicable law requires a lawful basis, we rely on the basis appropriate to the activity. Requested ranking updates are sent following a subscription or direct request; where consent is the applicable basis, it may be withdrawn at any time. Newsletter and conference alerts are sent on the basis of your consent, confirmed through the confirmation link, and you may withdraw it at any time by unsubscribing. We may rely on legitimate interests for preparing and maintaining accurate professional profiles and rankings, handling corrections and correspondence, evaluating communications, and operating and securing the Site, subject to applicable safeguards and individuals’ rights. We process business partner information where necessary to perform or prepare a contract and for our legitimate interest in managing business relationships. We also process information where necessary to comply with legal obligations. Where international transfer safeguards are legally required, we use the applicable safeguards. You may contact us for information about the safeguards relevant to your information.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will revise the “Last updated” date when we make changes. Where required by law, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent before applying a change that requires it. Continued use of the Site does not substitute for consent where consent is legally required.
14. Contact us
For privacy questions or requests, contact:
Research USA LLC8 The Green, STE R
Dover, DE 19901, USA
Email: [email protected]