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A fresh approach to evaluating the academic ranking of world universities

Author

Listed:
  • Veljko Jeremic

    (University of Belgrade)

  • Milica Bulajic

    (University of Belgrade)

  • Milan Martic

    (University of Belgrade)

  • Zoran Radojicic

    (University of Belgrade)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present new ideas in evaluating Shanghai University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). One issue frequently put forth in various publications is that the Shanghai rankings are sensitive to the relative weight they attribute to each variable. As a possible remedy to this issue, the statistical I-distance method is proposed to be used. Based on a sample containing the top 100 ranked universities, the results show a significant correlation with the official ARWU list. However, some inconsistencies concerning European universities have been noticed and elaborated upon.

Suggested Citation

  • Veljko Jeremic & Milica Bulajic & Milan Martic & Zoran Radojicic, 2011. "A fresh approach to evaluating the academic ranking of world universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(3), pages 587-596, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:87:y:2011:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-011-0361-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-011-0361-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Olga Bogdanov & Veljko Jeremiæ & Sandra Jednak & Mladen Èudanov, 2019. "Scrutinizing the Smart City Index: a multivariate statistical approach," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 37(2), pages 777-799.
    2. Milica Maricic & Jose A. Egea & Veljko Jeremic, 2019. "A Hybrid Enhanced Scatter Search—Composite I-Distance Indicator (eSS-CIDI) Optimization Approach for Determining Weights Within Composite Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 497-537, July.
    3. Shahryar Rahnamayan & Sedigheh Mahdavi & Kalyanmoy Deb & Azam Asilian Bidgoli, 2020. "Ranking Multi-Metric Scientific Achievements Using a Concept of Pareto Optimality," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-46, June.
    4. Milica Jovanovic & Veljko Jeremic & Gordana Savic & Milica Bulajic & Milan Martic, 2012. "How does the normalization of data affect the ARWU ranking?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(2), pages 319-327, November.
    5. Massucci, Francesco Alessandro & Docampo, Domingo, 2019. "Measuring the academic reputation through citation networks via PageRank," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 185-201.
    6. Nela Miloševiæ & Marina Dobrota & Slaðana Barjaktaroviæ Rakoèeviæ, 2018. "EU enlargement: Digital economy in Europe: Evaluation of countries’ performances," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 36(2), pages 861-880.
    7. Milenkovic, Nemanja & Vukmirovic, Jovanka & Bulajic, Milica & Radojicic, Zoran, 2014. "A multivariate approach in measuring socio-economic development of MENA countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 604-608.
    8. Maričić Milica & Bulajić Milica & Radojičić Zoran & Jeremić Veljko, 2016. "Multivariate approach to imposing additional constraints on the Benefit-of-the-Doubt model: The case of QS World University Rankings by Subject," Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 2(1), pages 1-14, September.
    9. Lutz Bornmann & Loet Leydesdorff, 2011. "Which cities produce more excellent papers than can be expected? A new mapping approach, using Google Maps, based on statistical significance testing," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(10), pages 1954-1962, October.
    10. Gul, Muhammet & Yucesan, Melih, 2022. "Performance evaluation of Turkish Universities by an integrated Bayesian BWM-TOPSIS model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. Hiran H. Lathabai & Abhirup Nandy & Vivek Kumar Singh, 2021. "x-index: Identifying core competency and thematic research strengths of institutions using an NLP and network based ranking framework," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9557-9583, December.
    12. Dobrota, Marina & Martic, Milan & Bulajic, Milica & Jeremic, Veljko, 2015. "Two-phased composite I-distance indicator approach for evaluation of countries’ information development," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 406-420.
    13. Antonio Fernández-Cano & Elvira Curiel-Marin & Manuel Torralbo-Rodríguez & Mónica Vallejo-Ruiz, 2018. "Questioning the Shanghai Ranking methodology as a tool for the evaluation of universities: an integrative review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 2069-2083, September.
    14. Maričić Milica & Bulajić Milica & Radojičić Zoran & Jeremić Veljko, 2019. "Shedding Light on the Doing Business Index: a Machine Learning Approach," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 73-84, September.
    15. M. Marković & S. Zdravković & M. Mitrović & A. Radojičić, 2016. "An Iterative Multivariate Post Hoc I-Distance Approach in Evaluating OECD Better Life Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 1-19, March.
    16. Aparna Basu & Sumit Kumar Banshal & Khushboo Singhal & Vivek Kumar Singh, 2016. "Designing a Composite Index for research performance evaluation at the national or regional level: ranking Central Universities in India," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(3), pages 1171-1193, June.
    17. Berde Éva & Kuncz Izabella, 2019. "Active Ageing Index, New Emphasis Within the Same Methodology. The Role of the Internet," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 29(4), pages 1-20, December.

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