Comparing Rankings

International university rankings are now proliferating in much the same way that American rankings have multiplied over the last few decades although so far there is no global equivalent to top party schools or best colleges for squirrels.

It is now time for a cursory review and comparison of the major international rankings. I will omit recent rankings, those that look as though they may not be repeated or those that provide insufficient information about methodology.

The list is as follows:

Academic Ranking of World Universities

Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan

International Professional Ranking of Higher Education Institutions (Paris Mines Tech)

Leiden Ranking

QS World University rankings

Scimago Institutions Ranking

THE World University Rankings

Webometrics Ranking of World Universities

The first attribute to be considered is simply the number of universities ranked. A ranking might have an impeccable methodology and analyse a score  of indicators with the strictest attention to current bibliometric theory and statistical technique. If, however, it only ranks a few hundred universities it is of no use to those interested in the thousands left outside the elite of the ranked.

I am counting the number of universities in published rankings. Here the winner is clearly Webometrics, followed by Scimago.

Webometrics 12,300

Scimago 1,955

QS WUR 616

ARWU 500

HEEACT 500
 
Leiden 500

THE WUR 400

Paris Mines 376