Research Innovation Ranks Best Universities
Scientific Papers Indicate Research Intensity, Good Science Strategy
Aug 24, 2009
The standards for research intensity, which includes research productivity, research impact and research excellence, are used by the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan in its Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities.
Research Innovation, Technology, Strategy Noted in Scientific Papers Ranking
The ranking is a project that began in 2007 and evaluates and ranks the scientific paper performance for the top 500 universities worldwide. Unlike other major university rankings, this initiative is unique in that it focuses on the performance of scientific papers.
The emphasis is on current research performance and innovation which allows the ranking to be more objective than traditional indicators such as a university’s reputation or the number of Nobel Prize winners affiliated with the institution. Those indicators tend to favor universities with longer histories of research strategy or those in more developed nations.
Academic Research Managed Well at World’s Best Universities
The top 10 ranked universities by Scientific Papers in 2009 are:
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Stanford University
- University of Washington – Seattle
- University of California – Los Angeles
- University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of California – Berkeley
- University of Pennsylvania
- Columbia University
The top 10 ranked universities by Scientific Papers in 2008 are:
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Stanford University
- University of Washington – Seattle
- University of California – Los Angeles
- University of California – Berkeley
- University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of California – San Francisco
- University of California – San Diego
Universities chosen to assess for possible inclusion as the top 500 were based on information from the Essential Science Indicators. More than 700 top institutions were identified from 4,000 research institutions based on the number of published journal articles and citations.
The initial list was further deepened by comparing universities included in the other global ranking programs. Data used to assess university performance came from Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports.
Technology, Medical, Other Academic Research Ranked as Scientific Papers
Universities that were merged or had different campuses as part of one system were considered in the ranking as were publications by a university’s affiliated research centers and university hospitals.
Eight indicators comprise the performance measures, under the three standards of research. The indicators under research productivity are:
- Number of articles in the last 11 years
- Number of articles in the current year
Indicators under research impact include:
- Number of citations over the last 11 years
- Number of citations in the last two years
- Average number of citations in the last 11 years
Indicators under research excellence:
- H-index over the last two years (the H-index measures university research quality and quantity)
- Number of highly cited papers in the last 11 years
- Number of articles in the current year in high-impact journals
The Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities takes a unique approach to measuring academic research compared to other world university rankings. The results showcase the importance of university research innovations, the use of technology, strategy and good management at the world’s best universities.
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