IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/infome/v11y2017i3p859-872.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What drives university research performance? An analysis using the CWTS Leiden Ranking data

Author

Listed:
  • Frenken, Koen
  • Heimeriks, Gaston J.
  • Hoekman, Jarno

Abstract

This paper analyzes the factors underlying university research performance as indicated by the number of highly-cited publications, international co-publications, and university-industry co-publications. The three performance indicators evaluate three possible university missions, respectively: research excellence, internationalization, and innovation. Using a regression analysis, we assess to what extent a university's research performance is influenced by structural variables including size, age, city size, location in a capital city, disciplinary orientation, and country location. Our results show that research performance differences among universities mainly stem from size, disciplinary orientation and country location. This suggests that simple global benchmarking can be misleading; rather, benchmarking is most meaningful between universities of a similar size supplemented with contextual information on a university's specific mission, orientation and national institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Frenken, Koen & Heimeriks, Gaston J. & Hoekman, Jarno, 2017. "What drives university research performance? An analysis using the CWTS Leiden Ranking data," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 859-872.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:11:y:2017:i:3:p:859-872
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2017.06.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751157717301785
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joi.2017.06.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daraio, Cinzia & Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Simar, Léopold, 2015. "Rankings and university performance: A conditional multidimensional approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(3), pages 918-930.
    2. Fredrik Niclas Piro & Gunnar Sivertsen, 2016. "How can differences in international university rankings be explained?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 2263-2278, December.
    3. Lutz Bornmann & Rüdiger Mutz & Hans‐Dieter Daniel, 2013. "Multilevel‐statistical reformulation of citation‐based university rankings: The Leiden ranking 2011/2012," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(8), pages 1649-1658, August.
    4. Csomós, György & Tóth, Géza, 2016. "Exploring the position of cities in global corporate research and development: A bibliometric analysis by two different geographical approaches," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 516-532.
    5. Ludo Waltman & Clara Calero-Medina & Joost Kosten & Ed C.M. Noyons & Robert J.W. Tijssen & Nees Jan Eck & Thed N. Leeuwen & Anthony F.J. Raan & Martijn S. Visser & Paul Wouters, 2012. "The Leiden ranking 2011/2012: Data collection, indicators, and interpretation," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(12), pages 2419-2432, December.
    6. Etzkowitz, Henry & Webster, Andrew & Gebhardt, Christiane & Terra, Branca Regina Cantisano, 2000. "The future of the university and the university of the future: evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 313-330, February.
    7. Michel Zitt & Suzy Ramanana-Rahary & Elise Bassecoulard, 2005. "Relativity of citation performance and excellence measures: From cross-field to cross-scale effects of field-normalisation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 63(2), pages 373-401, April.
    8. Anthony F. J. Raan & Thed N. Leeuwen & Martijn S. Visser, 2011. "Severe language effect in university rankings: particularly Germany and France are wronged in citation-based rankings," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(2), pages 495-498, August.
    9. Leydesdorff, Loet & Wagner, Caroline S., 2008. "International collaboration in science and the formation of a core group," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 317-325.
    10. Bornmann, Lutz & Stefaner, Moritz & de Moya Anegón, Felix & Mutz, Rüdiger, 2014. "What is the effect of country-specific characteristics on the research performance of scientific institutions? Using multi-level statistical models to rank and map universities and research-focused in," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 581-593.
    11. Tim Vorley & Jen Nelles, 2008. "(Re)conceptualising the academy: Institutional development of and beyond the third mission," Higher Education Management and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17.
    12. Henk F. Moed, 2017. "A critical comparative analysis of five world university rankings," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 967-990, February.
    13. Mei Li & Sriram Shankar & Kam Ki Tang, 2009. "Why does the US dominate university league tables?," Discussion Papers Series 391, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    14. Waltman, Ludo & van Eck, Nees Jan, 2015. "Field-normalized citation impact indicators and the choice of an appropriate counting method," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 872-894.
    15. Anthony F J van Raan, 2013. "Universities Scale Like Cities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-14, March.
    16. Rafols, Ismael & Leydesdorff, Loet & O’Hare, Alice & Nightingale, Paul & Stirling, Andy, 2012. "How journal rankings can suppress interdisciplinary research: A comparison between Innovation Studies and Business & Management," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 1262-1282.
    17. Önder Nomaler & Koen Frenken & Gaston Heimeriks, 2014. "On Scaling of Scientific Knowledge Production in U.S. Metropolitan Areas," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-6, October.
    18. Michel Grossetti & Denis Eckert & Yves Gingras & Laurent Jégou & Vincent Larivière & Béatrice Milard, 2014. "Cities and the geographical deconcentration of scientific activity: A multilevel analysis of publications (1987–2007)," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(10), pages 2219-2234, August.
    19. Vicente Safón, 2013. "What do global university rankings really measure? The search for the X factor and the X entity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(2), pages 223-244, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gonçalo Rodrigues Brás, 2021. "Awarding PhD Powers to Polytechnics: An Academic Trap?," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    2. Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Belingheri, Paola & Secondi, Luca, 2021. "The research productivity of universities. A multilevel and multidisciplinary analysis on European institutions," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2).
    3. Qi Wang & Tobias Jeppsson, 2022. "Identifying benchmark units for research management and evaluation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7557-7574, December.
    4. Ren, Xian-tong & Fukuyama, Hirofumi & Yang, Guo-liang, 2022. "Eliminating congestion by increasing inputs in R&D activities of Chinese universities," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Liu, Yong & Liu, Zhi-yang & Li, Jian, 2020. "Research on efficiency and differences of regional industry-university-research synergetic innovation in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Chen, Zhuo & Yang, Zhenbing & Yang, Lili, 2020. "How to optimize the allocation of research resources? An empirical study based on output and substitution elasticities of universities in Chinese provincial level," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. El Gibari, Samira & Gómez, Trinidad & Ruiz, Francisco, 2018. "Evaluating university performance using reference point based composite indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1235-1250.
    8. Yang, Zhenbing & Chen, Zhuo & Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili, 2022. "Can housing price regulation improve R&D performance in universities? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    9. Anna A. Avanesova & Tatyana A. Shamliyan, 2018. "Comparative trends in research performance of the Russian universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 2019-2052, September.
    10. Mignon Wuestman & Koen Frenken & Iris Wanzenböck, 2020. "A genealogical approach to academic success," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Zubaida Qazi & Wasim Qazi & Syed Ali Raza & Sara Qamar Yousufi, 2022. "The Antecedents Affecting University Reputation and Student Satisfaction: A Study in Higher Education Context," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(4), pages 253-271, November.
    12. Raminta Pranckutė, 2021. "Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The Titans of Bibliographic Information in Today’s Academic World," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-59, March.
    13. Fredrik Niclas Piro, 2019. "The R&D composition of European countries: concentrated versus dispersed profiles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1095-1119, May.
    14. Gössling, Stefan & Moyle, Brent D. & Weaver, David, 2021. "Academic entrepreneurship: A bibliometric engagement model," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Dmitry Gladyrev, 2023. "Factors Affecting R&D Share in University Revenues: Case of Russia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-9, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leporia, Benedetto & Geuna, Aldo & Mira, Antonietta, 2018. "Scientific Output of US and European Universities Scales Super-linearly with Resources," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201806, University of Turin.
    2. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.
    3. Bornmann, Lutz & Stefaner, Moritz & de Moya Anegón, Felix & Mutz, Rüdiger, 2016. "Excellence networks in science: A Web-based application based on Bayesian multilevel logistic regression (BMLR) for the identification of institutions collaborating successfully," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 312-327.
    4. 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.
    5. Cinzia Daraio & Simone Di Leo & Loet Leydesdorff, 2022. "Using the Leiden Rankings as a Heuristics: Evidence from Italian universities in the European landscape," LEM Papers Series 2022/08, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    6. Fairclough, Ruth & Thelwall, Mike, 2015. "National research impact indicators from Mendeley readers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 845-859.
    7. Benedetto Lepori & Aldo Geuna & Antonietta Mira, 2019. "Scientific output scales with resources. A comparison of US and European universities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Vicente Safón & Domingo Docampo, 2020. "Analyzing the impact of reputational bias on global university rankings based on objective research performance data: the case of the Shanghai Ranking (ARWU)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2199-2227, December.
    9. Loet Leydesdorff & Paul Wouters & Lutz Bornmann, 2016. "Professional and citizen bibliometrics: complementarities and ambivalences in the development and use of indicators—a state-of-the-art report," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 2129-2150, December.
    10. Vicente Safón, 2019. "Inter-ranking reputational effects: an analysis of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) reputational relationship," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(2), pages 897-915, November.
    11. Bouyssou, Denis & Marchant, Thierry, 2016. "Ranking authors using fractional counting of citations: An axiomatic approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 183-199.
    12. Jacek Pietrucha, 2018. "Country-specific determinants of world university rankings," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(3), pages 1129-1139, March.
    13. Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cicero, Tindaro, 2016. "Nondeterministic ranking of university departments," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 224-237.
    14. Lutz Bornmann & Rüdiger Mutz & Robin Haunschild & Felix Moya-Anegon & Mirko Almeida Madeira Clemente & Moritz Stefaner, 2021. "Mapping the impact of papers on various status groups in excellencemapping.net: a new release of the excellence mapping tool based on citation and reader scores," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(11), pages 9305-9331, November.
    15. Zharova, Alona & Härdle, Wolfgang Karl & Lessmann, Stefan, 2023. "Data-driven support for policy and decision-making in university research management: A case study from Germany," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(1), pages 353-368.
    16. Seongkyoon Jeong & Jong-Chan Kim & Jae Young Choi, 2015. "Technology convergence: What developmental stage are we in?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(3), pages 841-871, September.
    17. Jeffrey Demaine, 2022. "Fractionalization of research impact reveals global trends in university collaboration," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2235-2247, May.
    18. Mehdi Rhaiem & Nabil Amara, 2020. "Determinants of research efficiency in Canadian business schools: evidence from scholar-level data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(1), pages 53-99, October.
    19. Daraio, Cinzia & Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Simar, Léopold, 2015. "Rankings and university performance: A conditional multidimensional approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(3), pages 918-930.
    20. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea, 2015. "Ranking research institutions by the number of highly-cited articles per scientist," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 915-923.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:11:y:2017:i:3:p:859-872. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.