Academic Ranking of World Universities
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The [Academic Ranking of World Universities] is compiled by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and includes major institutes of higher education in all countries of North America, Europe, Asia, Pacific, and Latin America, compared and ranked by multiple numerical criteria, including publications in peer-reviewed journals and Nobel prizes awarded to alumni and staff.
Due to its relative objective methodology, the results have often been cited by The Economist magazine in ranking universities of the world [link]. However, the Shanghai rankings have also been criticized for placing too much emphasis on the sciences. There are three Nobel prizes for the sciences (chemistry, physics and medicine), one for the social sciences (economics), one for the arts (literature) and the Peace Prize. Universities with staff or alumni holding Fields medals for mathematics are also rewarded, but similar awards for achievement in the arts are not taken into account.
The rankings were also criticized by The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) of London, which also publishes an annual report about world rankings (see Times Higher World University Rankings for details).
In its 2004 report, it questioned why the Shanghai rankings count only [Nobel] prizes; why the universities where prizewinners studied, some at the turn of the century before last, were creditedl and why universities where winners carried out their research, often at least 20 years previously, were credited rather than the institution that now benefits from their presence[[Citing sources citation needed]]. The report went on to further criticize the rankings for their emphasis on the sciences. Another paper [link] criticized the ranking for not being reproducible.
However, there is a strong counter-argument to THES and others' criticism on SJTU ranking, which is claimed to place more emphasis on science. The argument is because even though there are more Nobel Prizes or awards in science, every university has an equal opportunity to win as many Nobel Prizes or awards in any fields, science and non-science. Thus, it is unfair to penalize science because the very purpose of the ranking is to measure both the breadth and the depth of a truly diverse university. A university that only focuses on certain areas then perhaps has not reached the level of diversity required to be qualified as a University. The fact of the matter is that it is very difficult to establish a university that covers and excels in all fields. It takes time, resources and tremendous amount of energy. Thus, the ability of an academic body to reach that level has to be recognized. Weighting should not be an issue because the opportunity for each university to excel is equal in the sense that nobody can stop any university to excel if the very university chooses to do so.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
[Webometrics] also publishes a ranking of the top world universities. Their methodology is based on the number of online publications and link citations for each institute, as reflected by the top internet search engines. Main focus is on the universities' commitment to web publishing and Open Access initiatives than to quality ranking.
One refinement of the Webometrics approach is the [G-Factor] methodology, which counts the number of links only from other university websites. The G-Factor is an indicator of the popularity or importance of each university's website from the combined perspectives of the creators of many other university websites. It is therefore a kind of extensive and objective peer review of a university through its website - in social network theory terminology, the G-Factor measures the 'nodality' of each university's website in the 'network' of university websites.
See also
External links
- [link] - A 2005 ranking from the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University of the world's research universities.
- [Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking]
- [The Economist, The Brains Business]
- [Webometrics Ranking of World Universities by InternetLab]
- [World University Rankings by THES]
- [Re-evaluation of the Shanghai ranking by Institute Jozef Stefan, Slovenia]
- [G-Factor methodology and 2006 world university rankings]
- [http://www.TopUniversities.tk]
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