U.S. News Clarifies Error Correction Policy

In an email he sent to me earlier today, Robert J. Morse, Director of Data Research at U.S. News & World Report, clarified his magazine's policy on correcting errors in its rankings. He wrote (and I quote with permission),

Our basic policy is: If we make a data mistake (our fault) then we change the rankings. If a school makes a data mistake, then we don't change the rankings, but we generally change the underlying data on the ranking table--assuming the school error is communicated to me.

I wouldn't call that grossly unfair. Academic research would perhaps demand more attention to setting the record straight, granted. But USN&WR's rankings hardly constitute academic research.

[Crossposted to Agoraphilia.]