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Meaningful Measurement of Sustainable Development or Gaming the System? Patterns in Submission to Times Higher Education's Impact Ranking

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  • Brandon Allan Dickson

Abstract

This research takes a quantitative approach to investigating patterns in submissions to the Times Higher Education's sustainability‐focused Impact Ranking. Testing hypotheses developed from the quantification, rankings, and disclosures literatures, this research provides a first‐of‐its‐kind longitudinal exploration into the Impact Rankings to understand the shape that submissions take along two categories: universities' responses to previous submissions and universities' own characteristics. The study finds that the universities that submit the most sustainable development goals tend to have larger student populations and score higher. It also finds that universities do not seem to target specific high‐scoring goals but rather resubmit the same goals and increase the number of submissions per year. This research will be of interest to researchers in the areas of disclosures, rankings, and higher education, and will also be of interest to practitioners currently working in university offices of sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandon Allan Dickson, 2026. "Meaningful Measurement of Sustainable Development or Gaming the System? Patterns in Submission to Times Higher Education's Impact Ranking," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 2073-2089, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:2:p:2073-2089
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70419
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elisa Chaleta & Margarida Saraiva & Fátima Leal & Isabel Fialho & António Borralho, 2021. "Higher Education and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)—Potential Contribution of the Undergraduate Courses of the School of Social Sciences of the University of Évora," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-10, February.
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    3. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-06-2014-1736 is not listed on IDEAS
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    6. Elena De la Poza & Paloma Merello & Antonio Barberá & Alberto Celani, 2021. "Universities’ Reporting on SDGs: Using THE Impact Rankings to Model and Measure Their Contribution to Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-28, February.
    7. Charl de Villiers & Leonardo Rinaldi & Jeffrey Unerman, 2014. "Integrated Reporting: Insights, gaps and an agenda for future research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(7), pages 1042-1067, August.
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