by ANGEL CALDERON
Now in its fourteenth consecutive edition, the CWTS Leiden Ranking was released on June 2, including 1,225 universities; 49 more than the 1,176 in 2020. This ranking is produced by the Center for Science and Technology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. It derives a set of impact and collaboration measures, but it does not produce an overall rank.
Leiden uses data from Clarivate’s Web of Science and is entirely reliant on bibliometric metrics, unlike other ranking schemas like QS, Times Higher Education, or Best Global, which require institutional input or are reliant on reputational surveys.
The period for those Wed of Science publications used is 2016 to 2019. Citations are counted until the end of 2020 in the indicators where applicable. As I commented in CMM last year, any impact of the pandemic on bibliometric-specific rankings like Leiden will not be felt until 2022. This is because rankings reflect past performance and time lag between investment (or lack of) and attainment of outcomes.
Australian performance in geopolitical context
There are now 32 Australian universities included in the ranking, with the inclusion of the University of the Sunshine Coast, compared to 26 in 2019 or 23 in 2015. Australian universities continue to march on the global stage.
To put it in perspective, Australia is eleventh in the number of universities included in the Leiden ranking, behind India and Iran (32 and 38 respectively). China has the largest number of institutions included (221 or 17 more than last year) and the United States with 200 (two more than last year).
The same countries are ranked first to eleventh this year in the overall number of universities included in the ranking compared to last year.
As a national system, Australia stands out in this ranking because it outperforms other systems in overall representation. 74 per cent of Australian universities are included in the Leiden Ranking compared to 51 per cent for Germany, 42 per cent for the United Kingdom, 8 per cent for China and 7 per cent for the United States.
The strong presence of Australian universities reflects the homogenisation of Australia’s higher education and the legacy of the Dawkins reforms from thirty years ago. These reforms made research and research training a key feature of what constitutes a university in Australia.
Scope of indicators
The Leiden Ranking contains two categories of metrics. There are 13 measures designed to assess scientific impact, such as the number and proportion of publications which are in the top 1 per cent, 5 per cent, 10 per cent and 50 per cent most frequently cited.
There are 11 measures designed to assess extent to which there is scientific collaboration. An example of such measure is the number and the proportion of a university’s publications co-authored with industry organisations.
Over the past three years, the Leiden Ranking has also included several measures to reflect the extent to which institutions have embraced open access publishing. It has also included a set of measures designed to measure gender balance.
A useful tool for improvement
The Leiden Ranking has evolved in terms of metrics and country coverage. These are positive developments as an expanded coverage of researchers’ endeavours can assist universities to measure effectiveness and impact of their research strategies.
The 2021 edition includes institutions from 69 countries compared to 65 in the 2020 edition and 48 countries in the 2015 edition. In fact, the first edition of the Leiden Ranking in 2008 covered the top 100 and the 250 largest universities in Europe as well as the top 100 and the 250 largest universities worldwide.
Even though the leading research-intensive universities from high-income economies continue to shine in this and all other global rankings, this ranking is a useful tool to aid universities and governments to forge a way forward for greater collaboration and stronger partnerships in addressing the United Nations’ sustainable development 2030 agenda.
Furthermore, this ranking can be a useful to strengthen quality of education and research endeavours in educational systems in need. For example, this ranking recognises institutions with increased collaboration with industry as well as those institutions with increased proportion of women authoring papers.
Top performers
Every Australian university included in this ranking can validly claim success. This is because there are 24 indicators of scientific impact and collaboration, plus several indicators of open access publishing and gender diversity. In addition, the Leiden ranking contains breakdowns for the five main fields of science.
Let us see how Australian universities perform in selected measures of impact.
* total number of publications: there are five Australian universities in the world’s top 100. These are, Uni Melbourne, Uni Sydney, Uni Queensland, Monash University and UNSW Sydney. Four universities are ranked in the 101-300 range and eight are ranked in the 301-400 range. On this measure alone, 17 Australian universities are included in the world’s top 400
* total citation count: the same 17 universities which rank in the world’s top 400 for publications appear in this 400
* mean normalised citation score: there are only three Australian universities which rank in the world’s top 100, UTS, Australian Catholic University and Swinburne University. There are 12 more in the 101-200 range and another seven between 201-300. For a variety of reasons, the normalisation process enhances the standing of Australian universities.
Let us see how Australian universities performed in selected measures of collaboration.
* proportion of publication co-authored with one or more other organisations: four Australian universities rank in the world’s top 100., Australian Catholic U, Edith Cowan U, UWA and Swinburne University. Eight more are ranked in the 101-200 range. Overall, 28 Australian universities are ranked in the world’s top 400.
* proportion of international collaboration: UTS is the only Australian university which is ranked in the world’s top 100. There are six more in the 101-200 range. Overall, 27 universities are in the top 400.
* proportion of publications co-authored with industry: No Australian university is in this top 400. However, nine universities are in the top 400 for number of publications co-authored with industry.
What’s next
Next week, QS will release its World University Rankings. This will be an important release. Last year Australian universities experienced a small but noticeable decrease in the reputation surveys but improved on the basis of higher citations per faculty score.
Angel Calderon is principal advisor, planning and research at RMIT
Global rank of Australian universities in the 2021 Leiden Ranking | ||||||
Selected measures of impact | ||||||
Institution | Number of publications | Total citation count | Mean normalized citation score | Proportion of publications in | ||
Top 1% | Top 10% | Top 50% | ||||
Australian Catholic University | 1184 | 1004 | 58 | 99 | 65 | 66 |
Australian National University | 220 | 214 | 146 | 180 | 157 | 169 |
Charles Sturt University | 1132 | 1175 | 834 | 782 | 798 | 833 |
Curtin University | 268 | 247 | 192 | 141 | 176 | 218 |
Deakin University | 323 | 310 | 235 | 204 | 226 | 243 |
Edith Cowan University | 1091 | 922 | 183 | 68 | 121 | 297 |
Flinders University | 537 | 537 | 426 | 409 | 344 | 531 |
Griffith University | 305 | 278 | 215 | 191 | 270 | 276 |
James Cook University | 602 | 539 | 164 | 85 | 168 | 247 |
La Trobe University | 529 | 528 | 385 | 479 | 308 | 334 |
Macquarie University | 368 | 392 | 206 | 237 | 232 | 215 |
Monash University | 53 | 57 | 134 | 129 | 124 | 128 |
Murdoch University | 844 | 829 | 483 | 206 | 523 | 608 |
Queensland University of Technology | 331 | 298 | 250 | 229 | 246 | 178 |
RMIT University | 397 | 324 | 157 | 106 | 158 | 159 |
Swinburne University of Technology | 701 | 540 | 81 | 43 | 104 | 146 |
University of Adelaide | 199 | 144 | 136 | 148 | 145 | 177 |
University of Canberra | 1201 | 1112 | 382 | 411 | 356 | 571 |
University of Melbourne | 29 | 46 | 133 | 157 | 147 | 135 |
University of New England | 974 | 1042 | 654 | 629 | 649 | 763 |
University of New South Wales | 58 | 59 | 124 | 146 | 123 | 109 |
University of Newcastle | 356 | 358 | 331 | 441 | 238 | 337 |
University of Queensland | 41 | 48 | 127 | 113 | 133 | 139 |
University of South Australia | 543 | 482 | 317 | 526 | 316 | 279 |
University of Sydney | 34 | 55 | 137 | 134 | 144 | 182 |
University of Tasmania | 469 | 459 | 342 | 299 | 302 | 324 |
University of Technology, Sydney | 384 | 290 | 56 | 64 | 58 | 81 |
University of the Sunshine Coast | 1131 | 1142 | 581 | 469 | 542 | 578 |
University of Western Australia | 192 | 218 | 256 | 271 | 265 | 263 |
University of Wollongong | 365 | 246 | 149 | 298 | 135 | 166 |
Victoria University, Melbourne | 1095 | 879 | 227 | 390 | 130 | 240 |
Western Sydney University | 596 | 576 | 254 | 282 | 202 | 357 |
Source: https://www.leidenranking.com/ | ||||||
Table compiled by AJ Calderon, using the Excel file made available online. |
Global rank of Australian universities in the 2021 Leiden Ranking | |||||
Selected measures of collaboration | |||||
Institution | Number of collaborative publications | Percentage of collaborative publications | Percentage of international publications | Number of publications with industry | Percentage of publications with industry |
Australian Catholic University | 792 | 37 | 390 | 1029 | 1023 |
Australian National University | 174 | 289 | 125 | 339 | 829 |
Charles Sturt University | 986 | 311 | 439 | 921 | 719 |
Curtin University | 217 | 196 | 192 | 354 | 757 |
Deakin University | 268 | 243 | 347 | 519 | 924 |
Edith Cowan University | 796 | 66 | 262 | 847 | 755 |
Flinders University | 471 | 373 | 477 | 485 | 530 |
Griffith University | 290 | 481 | 400 | 559 | 979 |
James Cook University | 497 | 172 | 268 | 573 | 684 |
La Trobe University | 392 | 155 | 504 | 633 | 918 |
Macquarie University | 297 | 293 | 299 | 495 | 845 |
Monash University | 26 | 135 | 273 | 87 | 621 |
Murdoch University | 717 | 195 | 363 | 627 | 412 |
Queensland University of Technology | 284 | 265 | 288 | 447 | 805 |
RMIT University | 369 | 405 | 285 | 442 | 648 |
Swinburne University of Technology | 527 | 92 | 156 | 650 | 765 |
University of Adelaide | 156 | 240 | 275 | 223 | 551 |
University of Canberra | 1027 | 211 | 507 | 995 | 834 |
University of Melbourne | 21 | 231 | 304 | 48 | 500 |
University of New England | 939 | 541 | 451 | 929 | 802 |
University of New South Wales | 46 | 350 | 272 | 122 | 673 |
University of Newcastle | 327 | 434 | 336 | 455 | 744 |
University of Queensland | 34 | 342 | 257 | 82 | 577 |
University of South Australia | 447 | 203 | 369 | 545 | 708 |
University of Sydney | 25 | 286 | 296 | 74 | 611 |
University of Tasmania | 397 | 300 | 300 | 450 | 595 |
University of Technology, Sydney | 285 | 113 | 93 | 438 | 772 |
University of the Sunshine Coast | 923 | 119 | 392 | 921 | 770 |
University of Western Australia | 116 | 72 | 171 | 206 | 568 |
University of Wollongong | 314 | 287 | 187 | 477 | 782 |
Victoria University, Melbourne | 1003 | 262 | 350 | 993 | 842 |
Western Sydney University | 466 | 166 | 303 | 697 | 909 |
Source: https://www.leidenranking.com/ | |||||
Table compiled by AJ Calderon, using the Excel file made available online. |