I had a similar experience.
Go to an earlier save and check the victory progress screen - the one that shows the Influence %, etc. It will say if the Research Victory is Disabled or not. (Can you do that in a Metaverse game?)
After I lost that above-mentioned game, I always go to that screen on Turn 1, to confirm that Research Victory has in fact been disabled. I had probably goofed and forgotten that time, but i take no chances anymore. Too many hours about to be invested not to confirm at the start.