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On using the Shanghai ranking to assess the research performance of university systems

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  • Domingo Docampo

    (Universidad de Vigo)

Abstract

We take a new look at the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities to evaluate the performance of whole university systems. We deal with system aggregates by means of averaging scores taken over a number of institutions from each higher education system according to the Gross Domestic Product of its country. We treat the set of indicators (measures) at the country level as a scale, and investigate its reliability and dimensionality using appropriate statistical tools. After a Principal Component Analysis is performed, a clear picture emerges: at the aggregate level ARWU seems to be a very reliable one-dimensional scale, with a first component that explains more than 72% of the variance of the sample under analysis. The percentages of variance of the indicators explained by the first component do shed light on the fact that ARWU is in fact measuring the research quality (both at the individual and collective levels) of a university system. When the second principal component is taken into account, the two principal components contribute to explain more than 90% of the variance. The rotated solution facilitates the interpretation of the components and provides clear and interesting clustering information about the 32 higher education systems under analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Domingo Docampo, 2011. "On using the Shanghai ranking to assess the research performance of university systems," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 86(1), pages 77-92, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:86:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-010-0280-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-010-0280-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Catherine Dehon & Alice McCathie & Vincenzo Verardi, 2010. "Uncovering excellence in academic rankings: a closer look at the Shanghai ranking," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(2), pages 515-524, May.
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    3. Răzvan V. Florian, 2007. "Irreproducibility of the results of the Shanghai academic ranking of world universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 72(1), pages 25-32, July.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/2947 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Matthias Gnewuch & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2018. "Super-efficiency of education institutions: an application to economics departments," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 610-623, November.
    4. Nicolás Robinson-García & Daniel Torres-Salinas & Emilio Delgado López-Cózar & Francisco Herrera, 2014. "An insight into the importance of national university rankings in an international context: the case of the I-UGR rankings of Spanish universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1309-1324, November.
    5. 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.
    6. Seiler, Christian & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2013. "Archetypal scientists," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 345-356.
    7. 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.
    8. Domingo Docampo, 2013. "Reproducibility of the Shanghai academic ranking of world universities results," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(2), pages 567-587, February.
    9. Domingo Docampo & Lawrence Cram, 2014. "On the internal dynamics of the Shanghai ranking," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1347-1366, February.
    10. Domingo Docampo, 2012. "Adjusted sum of institutional scores as an indicator of the presence of university systems in the ARWU ranking," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 90(2), pages 701-713, February.
    11. Frode Eika Sandnes, 2021. "Everyone onboard? Participation ratios as a metric for research activity assessments within young universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 6105-6113, July.
    12. Seiler, Christian & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2012. "Ranking economists on the basis of many indicators: An alternative approach using RePEc data," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 389-402.
    13. Domingo Docampo & Lawrence Cram, 2017. "Academic performance and institutional resources: a cross-country analysis of research universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(2), pages 739-764, February.
    14. 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).
    15. 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.
    16. Seiler, Christian & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2012. "Ranking economists on the basis of many indicators: An alternative approach using RePEc data," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 389-402.
    17. 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.
    18. Osmo Kivinen & Juha Hedman & Kalle Artukka, 2017. "Scientific publishing and global university rankings. How well are top publishing universities recognized?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 679-695, July.
    19. 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.
    20. Olcay, Gokcen Arkali & Bulu, Melih, 2017. "Is measuring the knowledge creation of universities possible?: A review of university rankings," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 153-160.
    21. Chiang Kao & Shiang-Tai Liu & Hwei-Lan Pao, 2012. "Assessing improvement in management research in Taiwan," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(1), pages 75-87, July.
    22. Domingo Docampo & Lawrence Cram, 2015. "On the effects of institutional size in university classifications: the case of the Shanghai ranking," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1325-1346, February.
    23. Lutz Bornmann & Alexander Butz & Klaus Wohlrabe, 2018. "What are the top five journals in economics? A new meta-ranking," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 659-675, February.
    24. Pin-Hua Lin & Jong-Rong Chen & Chih-Hai Yang, 2014. "Academic research resources and academic quality: a cross-country analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 109-123, October.
    25. 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.

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