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A comparative analysis of global and national university ranking systems

Author

Listed:
  • Murat Perit Çakır

    (Middle East Technical University)

  • Cengiz Acartürk

    (Middle East Technical University)

  • Oğuzhan Alaşehir

    (Middle East Technical University)

  • Canan Çilingir

    (Middle East Technical University
    Middle East Technical University)

Abstract

Recent interest towards university rankings has led to the development of several ranking systems at national and global levels. Global ranking systems tend to rely on internationally accessible bibliometric databases and reputation surveys to develop league tables at a global level. Given their access and in-depth knowledge about local institutions, national ranking systems tend to include a more comprehensive set of indicators. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic comparison of national and global university ranking systems in terms of their indicators, coverage and ranking results. Our findings indicate that national rankings tend to include a larger number of indicators that primarily focus on educational and institutional parameters, whereas global ranking systems tend to have fewer indicators mainly focusing on research performance. Rank similarity analysis between national rankings and global rankings filtered for each country suggest that with the exception of a few instances global rankings do not strongly predict the national rankings.

Suggested Citation

  • Murat Perit Çakır & Cengiz Acartürk & Oğuzhan Alaşehir & Canan Çilingir, 2015. "A comparative analysis of global and national university ranking systems," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(3), pages 813-848, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:103:y:2015:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1586-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-015-1586-6
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    4. Manuel Muñoz-Suárez & Natividad Guadalajara & José M. Osca, 2020. "A Comparative Analysis between Global University Rankings and Environmental Sustainability of Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    5. Horváth, Zsófia & Neszveda, Gábor, 2024. "Új szempont a magyar felsőoktatási intézmények teljesítményének mérésében - az egyetemek online láthatósága [Online visibility - A new aspect of measuring the performance of Hungarian higher educat," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 755-790.
    6. Zorica Lazić & Aleksandar Đorđević & Albina Gazizulina, 2021. "Improvement of Quality of Higher Education Institutions as a Basis for Improvement of Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-27, April.
    7. Yang Zhang & Yu Xiao & Jun Wu & Xin Lu, 2021. "Comprehensive world university ranking based on ranking aggregation," Computational Statistics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 1139-1152, June.
    8. 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.
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    10. Ibrahim Shehatta & Khalid Mahmood, 2016. "Correlation among top 100 universities in the major six global rankings: policy implications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 1231-1254, November.
    11. Angel Meseguer-Martinez & Alejandro Ros-Galvez & Alfonso Rosa-Garcia & Jose Antonio Catalan-Alarcon, 2019. "Online video impact of world class universities," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 29(3), pages 519-532, September.
    12. Hong Li & Zilin Chen, 2022. "A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework to Assess the Sustainable Development of Schools within a University: Application to a Chinese University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-12, August.
    13. Mohammad Reza Zare Banadkouki & Mohammad Ali Vahdatzad & Mohammad Saleh Owlia & Mohammad Mahdi Lotfi, 2018. "Ranking Iranian universities: an interpretative structural modeling approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(3), pages 1493-1512, December.
    14. Yan, Weiwei & Zhang, Yin, 2018. "Research universities on the ResearchGate social networking site: An examination of institutional differences, research activity level, and social networks formed," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 385-400.
    15. Dmitry Kochetkov, 2023. "Review of the Russian-language academic literature on university rankings and a global perspective," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    16. Zsolt Tibor Kosztyán & Beáta Fehérvölgyi & Tibor Csizmadia & Kinga Kerekes, 2021. "Investigating collaborative and mobility networks: reflections on the core missions of universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(4), pages 3551-3564, April.
    17. Csóka, Imola & Sebestyén, Géza & Neszveda, Gábor, 2019. "Tudományos teljesítmény mérése a magyar felsőoktatás gazdasági képzéseiben [Measuring scientific performance of business and economics faculties in Hungarian higher education]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 751-770.
    18. 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.
    19. Zsolt Kohus & Márton Demeter & László Kun & Eszter Lukács & Katalin Czakó & Gyula Péter Szigeti, 2022. "A Study of the Relation between Byline Positions of Affiliated/Non-Affiliated Authors and the Scientific Impact of European Universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.

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