Abstract
Background: Universities closely watch international league tables because thesetables influence governments, donors and students. Achieving a high ranking in atable, or an annual rise in ranking, allows universities to promote their achievementsusing an externally validated measure. However, league tables predominantly rewardmeasures of research output, such as publications and citations, and maytherefore be promoting poor research practices by encouraging the "publish or perish"mentality. Methods: We examined whether a league table could be created based on goodresearch practice. We rewarded researchers who cited a reporting guideline, whichhelp researchers report their research completely, accurately and transparently,and were created to reduce the waste of poorly described research. We used theEQUATOR guidelines, which means our tables are mostly relevant to health andmedical research. Results: Our cross-sectional tables for the years 2016 and 2017 included 14,408papers with 47,876 author affiliations. We ranked universities and included a bootstrapmeasure of uncertainty. We clustered universities in five similar groups in aneffort to avoid over-interpreting small differences in ranks. Conclusions: We believe there is merit in considering more socially responsiblecriteria for ranking universities, and this could encourage better research practiceinternationally if such tables become as valued as the current quantity-focused tables.
Highlights
League tables are used by universities to advertise their value, recruit staff and students, and attract funding, philanthropic funding
In this paper we examine one of these good research practices by examining when authors cited an EQUATOR reporting guideline24
We attempted to create the first international league table that focused on good research practice
Summary
League tables are used by universities to advertise their value, recruit staff and students, and attract funding, philanthropic funding. We focus on research, and so we do not consider league tables or criteria that focus on teaching or service. Many universities have dedicated web pages that promote their league table rankings with news stories and graphics. League tables create opportunities for universities to write positive stories based on either: i) their ranking, or ii) a large rise in their ranking as the tables are updated annually. Achieving a high ranking in a table, or an annual rise in ranking, allows universities to promote their achievements using an externally validated measure. Conclusions: We believe there is merit in considering more socially responsible criteria for ranking universities, and this could encourage better research practice internationally if such tables become as valued as the current quantity-focused tables
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