No. IA note for research offices
April, 2026

An institutional service for business research

A specialized literature search and evidence synthesis, built for the journals business scholars cite.

Your students default to Google and random internet sources. Arbiter replaces that habit with evidence from the journals your faculty trust — FT50, UTD24, ABDC, and AJG — and teaches them which journals carry weight in business research. Results surface the journal name, not the publisher. Designed for AACSB-accredited schools and the research offices, doctoral programs, and faculty that drive their research output.

Pricing is custom — speak with our team for a quote tailored to your institution.

i.The service

Built for the way business research actually gets done.

Five commitments that distinguish Arbiter from general-purpose research databases and consumer AI tools.

i.
A ranking-native corpus

Papers in Arbiter's corpus are indexed against FT50, UTD24, ABDC, and AJG, with historical ranking membership preserved for reproducibility. Year-stamped lists ensure that historical queries remain citable years after the search was run.

ii.
A versioned, citable methodology

A permalinked methodology document is published for every release. Researchers can cite the exact version they queried, supporting reproducibility in published work and meeting the standards of peer-reviewed business journals.

iii.
Integrity signals on every result

Retracted papers are flagged using OpenAlex retraction data and excluded from results by default. Expressions of Concern will be surfaced with a visible penalty when CrossRef integration is complete. Flags are available in both the user interface and the API — never hidden.

iv.
Direct links to every paper

Every result includes a verified DOI link to the publisher's page. Full-text access resolves through your institution's existing journal subscriptions. Link resolver integration (LibKey, EZproxy, OpenAthens) is planned for institutional deployments.

v.
AACSB Standard 8 support

Arbiter’s evidence weighting and ranking taxonomy are designed to support AACSB Standard 8 intellectual contribution documentation. A versioned, permalinked methodology is published with every release so accreditation reviews can reference the exact search methodology used.

Complete bibliographic coverage across ranked journals from 1990. Abstract coverage varies by publisher. Full coverage disclosure →

ii.Plans

One product. Three commitments.

Pricing scales with your institution's size and needs. Contact us for a quote tailored to your institution.

Essentials

For a single business school.

From Contact us
  • Unlimited searches
  • SSO (Shibboleth, SAML, EZproxy)
  • AACSB methodology documentation
  • Link resolver integration (LibKey, EZproxy) (planned)
  • Citation export (BibTeX, RIS) (planned)
Standard

For a business school with doctoral programs and research centers.

From Contact us
  • Everything in Essentials
  • Monthly usage reports
  • Co-branded experience
  • Quarterly review with success manager
  • Priority email support
  • Library admin dashboard (planned)
Enterprise

For multi-school universities, consortia, and custom deployments.

From Contact us
  • Everything in Standard
  • Multi-library administration
  • Custom ranking lists by request
  • Custom onboarding
  • Priority phone support
  • DPA and SOC 2 documentation (planned)
  • Data residency selection (US / EU) (planned)
iii.How we compare

Purpose-built for business research.

General-purpose research databases and consumer AI tools both miss what business scholars actually need. Arbiter is the only evidence search built around the ranking lists business faculty actually use.

CapabilityArbiterWeb of ScienceScopusConsensus
FT50 / UTD24 / ABDC / AJG as first-class objects
Evidence synthesis with citable sources
Retraction and integrity signals
Versioned, citable methodology
Composite evidence weight
Library admin dashboard
AACSB Standard 8 alignment
iv.For procurement

Institutional-ready from day one.

Arbiter is designed for institutional procurement — whether that's a research office, a Dean's budget, or a library — with standards-based authentication, recognized compliance frameworks, and integration with the systems your school already operates.

Single sign-on

  • Shibboleth (planned)
  • SAML 2.0 (planned)
  • EZproxy (planned)
  • OpenAthens (planned)
  • Okta (planned)

Compliance

  • SOC 2 Type II (planned)
  • GDPR compliant (planned)
  • FERPA compliant (planned)
  • DPA on request (planned)
  • Data residency: US / EU (planned)

Library integration

  • LibKey (Third Iron) (planned)
  • EZproxy link resolver (planned)
  • OpenAthens (planned)
  • Discovery layer plugins (planned)
  • OpenURL link resolver (planned)
v.Documents

The methodology is public.

The full methodology is published and permalinked — versioned corpus composition, ranking list vintages, and evidence weight formula. Security overview and data processing agreements are available on request.

BeginA 30-day trial,
at no cost

Start a 30-day institutional trial.

Full product access included. No credit card required. Cancel at any time — no automatic billing.