SCImago Institutions Rankings Research Articles

Measuring university size: A comparison of academic personnel versus scientific talent pool data

Abstract This paper compares two measures of the organizational size of higher education institutions (HEIs) widely used in the literature: the number of academic personnel (AP) measured according to definitions from international education statistics, and the scientific talent pool (STP) (i.e., the number of unique authors affiliated with the HEI as derived from the Scopus database). Based on their definitions and operationalizations, we derive expectations on the factors generating differences between these two measures, as related to the HEI’s research orientation and subject mix, as well as to the presence of a university hospital. We test these expectations on a sample of more than 1,500 HEIs in Europe by combining data from the European Tertiary Education Register and from the SCImago Institutions Ranking. Our results provide support for the expected relationships and also highlight cases where the institutional perimeter of HEIs is systematically different between the two sources. We conclude that these two indicators provide complementary measures of institutional size, one more focused on the organizational perimeter as defined by employment relationships, the other on the persons who contribute to the HEI’s scientific visibility. Comparing the two indicators is therefore likely to provide a more in-depth understanding of the HEI resources available.

Publication of non-native-English-speaking tourism researchers in international journals: findings from Vietnam

ABSTRACT This study investigates the current state of international publications in the field of tourism by non-native-English-speaking Vietnamese researchers and identifies the challenges and solutions regarding scientific research and international publications. A mixed-method approach was employed, including a systematic review of data collected from the Scimago Institutions Rankings system, a focus group, and semi-structured interviews with 25 respondents. While the number of publications by Vietnamese researchers has increased in recent years, the majority of these papers rely on ‘overseas factors’ such as authorship, geographic location, and educational background. Our findings from the interviews revealed several barriers to scientific research and international publications, including insufficient knowledge and skills, time constraints, motivation, language proficiency, and limited financial resources. The proposed solutions from the interviewees suggest that additional time and funding for research are crucial to improve the state of international publications among Vietnamese researchers. This study addresses the knowledge gap by providing an overview of the international publication in a disadvantaged academic context and adding the voice of non-native-English-speaking researchers, which are essential to promoting their international publications in the tourism field, yet neglected by the current literature.

Evaluation of Research, Journals, and Universities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region According to the Scimago Classification of Administration and Economics Specializations: A Comparative Study with Neighboring Countries

The aim of study is to determine the level of researchers, the quality of published research, and the quality of journals in the fields of administration and economics, using indicators from the Scimago journal and country Rank (SJR) and the Scimago Institutions Rankings (SIR), which is based on the Scopus database of the Dutch publishing house Elsevier for Iraq in comparison to neighboring countries (Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Syria) in terms of the number of published research, total citations, citations per publication which reflects the quality of scientific research and refereed scientific journals for three different time periods, including for a period of (24) years over the period (1996-2020) and for a period of (18) years after the year (2002) and for the year (2020) only, and the number of academic journals and universities classified for the year (2021) for Iraq using the descriptive and quantitative method of academic journals over the period (1996-2020). The study concludes that, with the exception of Syria, research output, academic journals, and universities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region fall behind neighboring nations. Also, this study suggests that higher education and educational authorities should update regulations and directions to motivate Iraqi researchers and universities to publish according to the prominent databases such as Scopus.

Mission statements in universities: Readability and performance

The mission statement(s) (MS) is one of the most-used tools for planning and management. Universities worldwide have implemented MS in their knowledge planning and management processes since the 1980s. Research studies have extensively explored the content and readability of MS and its effect on performance in firms, but their effect on public or nonprofit institutions such as universities has not been scrutinized with the same intensity. This study used Gunning's Fog Index score to determine the readability of a sample of worldwide universities’ MS and two rankings, i.e., Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking and SCImago Institutions Rankings, to determine their effect on performance. No significant readability differences were identified in regions, size, focus, research type, age band, or status. Logistic regression (cumulative link model) results showed that variables, such as universities’ age, focus, and size, have more-significant explanatory power on performance than MS readability.

Scimago Institutions Rankings for the Assessment of National Education System and Particular University

The article analyzes the results of the Scimago Institutions Rankings for the entire period of its existence and presents the detailed description of the rating methodology and necessary condition for the inclusion in the ranking list, i.e. the publication of more than 100 works by university stuff in the Scopus database. There has been an almost twofold increase in the number of universities in the ten-year ranking lists. The article illustrates the dynamics for a number of countries and analyzes the reasons for their shifts. The competition between China and the United States is demonstrated. It is noted how the adoption of political decisions, such as the “May decrees” in the Russian Federation or projects “211”, “985” in China increase the number of universities in the country participating in the ratings. Such countries as Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia succeeded in multiplying their positions in the university rankings. The article estimates the rate of growth in the number of publications for university in order to maintain its position in the scientometric rankings. The research conducts the analysis of the time required by the ranking agencies to implement and reflect the changes initiated by state competitiveness improvement programs.

The Trend of Scientific Productivity of Chinese, European Union, and United States Universities and Private Companies: Does the Future Belong to E-Technology Companies?

The purpose is to verify trends of scientific production from 2010 to 2020, considering the best universities of the United States, China, the European Union (EU), and private companies. The top 30 universities in 2020 in China, the EU, and the US and private companies were selected from the SCImago institutions ranking (SIR). The positions in 2020, 2015, and 2010 in SIR and three sub-indicators were analyzed by means of non-parametric statistics, taking into consideration the effect of time and group on rankings. American and European Union universities have lost positions to Chinese universities and even more to private companies, which have improved. In 2020, private companies have surpassed all other groups considering Innovation as a sub-indicator. The loss of leadership of European and partly American universities mainly concerns research linked to the production of patents. This can lead to future risks of monopoly that may elude public control and cause a possible loss of importance of research not linked to innovation.

Diversity and Discrepancies in Water‐related University Rankings: Is There a Need for More Consistency or Is There Value in Breadth?

Diversity and Discrepancies in Water‐related University Rankings: Is There a Need for More Consistency or Is There Value in Breadth?

Peruvian Scientific Production Affected by Predatory Journals

The following study presents the output of predatory publications in the Peruvian universities that were included in the SCImago Institutions Rankings of 2020 during the period 2015–2019. The universities considered in this work are ones of the most established and prominent in this Latin American nation. Due to a relatively new University Law, enacted in 2014, and a National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation, a research culture is starting to build-up in this country, which is reflected in its growing scientific production. However in this study, by using data from the Beall’s list, Stop Predatory Journals list and the citation database Scopus, we have observed that predatory publications are infiltrating the Peruvian scientific production. Our analysis reveals that the growth of questionable publications is exponential. Financial incentives and also promotion and tenure are quite possibly the key factors as to why the rise of predatory publications is occurring in Peru. On the other hand, we indicate that the growth of predatory publications can bring about the emergence of rogue researchers and also in the long run the damage of universities’ reputations. This is the first study to present an output of questionable publications in Peru and it is expected that serves the competent authorities for research as well as inexperienced and young researchers to avoid further the spread of this bad publication practices.

SCImago: Un portal que deben conocer las universidades para posicionarse y alcanzar prestigio científico

Esta investigación constituye un análisis de los portales de internet de SCImago Journal & Country Rank y SCImago Institutions Rankings, bases de datos en el que se incluyen indicadores de la actividad científica utilizados para evaluar la productividad de las universidades o instituciones dedicadas a la investigación, así como todas aquellas organizaciones encargadas de editar revistas científicas. Se fundamentó en los planteamientos de Rodríguez, Socorro y Espinoza (2019); Túñez-López, Valarezo-González y Marín-Gutiérrez (2014), entre otros. La metodología es de tipo documental-bibliográfica, se consultaron los portales de SCImago, así como artículos científicos e investigaciones referentes al tema de estudio. Estos portales ofrecen al usuario una serie de datos, herramientas y servicios de útil importancia para evaluar el desempeño de las instituciones gestoras de investigación, también, permiten medir el impacto de la actividad científica de los países a nivel mundial; se caracterizan por su fácil acceso y disponibilidad en la web, por lo que es importante que las universidades conozcan los indicadores científicos que se manejan en estos portales, con el fin de escalar posiciones dentro de los rankings investigativos, y les permita alcanzar prestigio científico ante comunidad nacional o internacional.

GLOBAL TRENDS AND COMPLEMENTARY EFFECTS OF THE WORLD CLASS RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

In this article modern trends and complementary effects of development of the world class research universities are analysed thoroughly; current problems and opportunities to ensure activation of development of the world class research universities in the context of the best European practice implementation are highlighted. Modern practice of universities international ranking with the development of appropriate quantitative and qualitative indicators of their educational and scientific activities has enabled the identification of quality references of development which are world class research universities. In these universities new horizons of human development are being opened up and imperatives for advancement of all universities around the world are being established. It is stated in SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) that the number of scientific organisations in different countries has increased by one third over the last ten years. Moreover, it is the research universities are represented in half of the scientific organisations. Research universities and scientific organisations of health care are the majority of world`s scientific organisations, namely it is three quarters of the total number. Half of Ukrainian scientific organisations presented in SIR 2019 are research universities, there is Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv among them that has the highest ratings. Consequently, tool of SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) made it possible to justify the conclusion about transformation of research universities into a dominant institute in the modern field of R&D. Comparative analysis of the world class research universities testified that research activity vector is oriented on solution of current global problems that forms international reference status of universities. The strengths of global leaders among world class research universities and their competitive advantages are manifested through comparative analysis of macro-economic indicators of TOP-100 research universities development quality. The analysis of global trends and complementary effects of world class research universities economic development makes it possible to justify the selection of important indicators of the development quality, such as: academic reputation; number of foreign students; structural relation between the number of students and the number of scientific and teaching staff; reputation among employers, quality improvement and increasing the citation rate of academic publications of university researchers; enlarged participation at international educational and scientific networks of other countries and continents. It is also noticed establishment of structural disproportions in the training of specialists with higher education in Ukraine and reorientation of applicants and students to world class universities against the background of a general decline in the number of applicants in the EU countries. Key words: research university, development of research university, world class university, the concept of rating of research universities, information society, global trends, complementary effects

CSIR Institutions in SIR 2019

The SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) cover research-focused institutions in the Government sector globally. The 2019 version of the report has appeared online recently1. SIR uses a composite indicator set on a scale of 0 to 100 that combines three different sets of indicators based on research performance (50% of the total weight, using primary bibliometric data from SCOPUS), innovation outputs (30% of the total weight, based on PATSTAT) and societal impact measured by their web visibility (20% of the total weight).

Organizations of the nas of Ukraine in scimago institutions rankings (SIR)

In the absence of a generally accepted system of indicators for assessing the activities of scientific institutions, this problem is relevant. The article discusses the methodology for constructing an international rating of scientific institutions depending on the level of effectiveness of their scientific activities (Scimago), and also considers its use for evaluating the activities of scientific institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Article deals with the outcomes of Scimago rating for the institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 2018. According to the results of the rating, the scientific institutions of different countries, which are scientific leaders, as well as the position of scientific institutions of the NAS of Ukraine, are determined. The results of the Scimago 2018 rating are compared with the results of the national assessment of the NAS of Ukraine, conducted in line with the new methodology for assessing the effectiveness of scientific institutions of NAS. It is proved that even the results of bibliometric studies based on popular and approved Scimago-type methods do not provide a definitive understanding of the institution’s activities. At the same time, the results of the rating can be used in conducting national assessments and to confirm the validity of funding institutions. With the correct interpretation, they provide an opportunity to determine the qualitative contribution of the scientific activity of an institution to the development of its industry and science as a whole

Scale, Style and Spread of Global Institutional Research

Most research in the world is organized around institutions which can be categorized as belonging to different sectors, e.g. higher education, government, health, etc. In this article we have evaluated how countries share and spread their research efforts across these sectors. This is made possible because the Scimago Institutions Rankings (SIR) uses a five-sector classification of the leading 5362 research institutions in the world. It is shown that each country has its distinctive style of sharing and spreading its research efforts across major sectors. Some countries are similar to others (e.g. Spain and the Netherlands, or Iran and Turkey), while some are very different from each other (e.g. Spain and Iran). Various row-wise and column-wise operations on a country– sector matrix allow us to quantify and visualize these styles and spreads, and measure their shares of the global institutional research efforts.

Correlational Relationships between Various International Rankings for Higher Education Institutions

The task of the investigation was to study the interrelations of the results of university rankings presented by various ranking agencies. Data on the number of the participants in the World Rankings has been presented for the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (WRWU), Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), U-Multirank, Round University Ranking (RUR), the Moscow International Rating “Three University Missions”, SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR).The correlations have been studied by the methods of mathematical statistics for the results of the Moscow International Rating “Three University Missions” and the RUR, QS, THE, and the WRWU rankings; of the QS rankings with THE and the WRWU rankings, as well as for the two WRWU rankings published in January 2018 and July 2017. The linear regression formulas linking the positions of universities in different rankings have been obtained. The results of the Moscow International Rating “Three University Missions” moderately correlate with the results of the RUR rankings, the correlation with WRWU is low. The correlations for the QS ranking with THE and the WRWU rankings are moderate. Very high correlation has been detected only for the two WRWU rankings, which raises questions about the feasibility of conducting them with an interval of six months.

Is it possible to rank universities using fewer indicators? A study on five international university rankings

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the similarity of intra-indicators used in research-focused international university rankings (Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), NTU, University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Round University Ranking (RUR)) over years, and show the effect of similar indicators on overall rankings for 2015. The research questions addressed in this study in accordance with these purposes are as follows: At what level are the intra-indicators used in international university rankings similar? Is it possible to group intra-indicators according to their similarities? What is the effect of similar intra-indicators on overall rankings?Design/methodology/approachIndicator-based scores of all universities in five research-focused international university rankings for all years they ranked form the data set of this study for the first and second research questions. The authors used a multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cosine similarity measure to analyze similarity of indicators and to answer these two research questions. Indicator-based scores and overall ranking scores for 2015 are used as data and Spearman correlation test is applied to answer the third research question.FindingsResults of the analyses show that the intra-indicators used in ARWU, NTU and URAP are highly similar and that they can be grouped according to their similarities. The authors also examined the effect of similar indicators on 2015 overall ranking lists for these three rankings. NTU and URAP are affected least from the omitted similar indicators, which means it is possible for these two rankings to create very similar overall ranking lists to the existing overall ranking using fewer indicators.Research limitations/implicationsCWTS, Mapping Scientific Excellence, Nature Index, and SCImago Institutions Rankings (until 2015) are not included in the scope of this paper, since they do not create overall ranking lists. Likewise, Times Higher Education, CWUR and US are not included because of not presenting indicator-based scores. Required data were not accessible for QS for 2010 and 2011. Moreover, although QS ranks more than 700 universities, only first 400 universities in 2012–2015 rankings were able to be analyzed. Although QS’s and RUR’s data were analyzed in this study, it was statistically not possible to reach any conclusion for these two rankings.Practical implicationsThe results of this study may be considered mainly by ranking bodies, policy- and decision-makers. The ranking bodies may use the results to review the indicators they use, to decide on which indicators to use in their rankings, and to question if it is necessary to continue overall rankings. Policy- and decision-makers may also benefit from the results of this study by thinking of giving up using overall ranking results as an important input in their decisions and policies.Originality/valueThis study is the first to use a MDS and cosine similarity measure for revealing the similarity of indicators. Ranking data is skewed that require conducting nonparametric statistical analysis; therefore, MDS is used. The study covers all ranking years and all universities in the ranking lists, and is different from the similar studies in the literature that analyze data for shorter time intervals and top-ranked universities in the ranking lists. It can be said that the similarity of intra-indicators for URAP, NTU and RUR is analyzed for the first time in this study, based on the literature review.

Uso de indicadores para diagnóstico situacional de Instituições de Ensino Superior

Resumo O texto dá relevo ao uso de indicadores educacionais como modo de se obter diagnóstico de Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES). Para tal, ilustra o uso de três indicadores internacionais (Scimago Institutions Ranking – SIR, QS World University Rankings – QS WUR, Ranking Mundial de Universidades na Web) que fornecem informações relevantes acerca da pesquisa científica, da produção intelectual, da colaboração internacional, da reputação institucional, do perfil docente, do impacto na web das produções intelectuais, dentre outros, proporcionando, assim, diagnóstico de uma IES, bem como análises comparativas frente a outras instituições internacionais. Os principais resultados do estudo efetivado em IES brasileira, entre 2011 e 2015, indicam: aumento da produção científica dos pesquisadores (indicador SIR) e da produção intelectual de excelência (indicador WEB); maior visibilidade institucional através da internet (indicador WEB), aumento da reputação acadêmica institucional (indicador QS-WUR); diminuição da colaboração internacional entre grupos de pesquisa (indicador SIR); diminuição da proporção de docentes estrangeiros (indicador QS-WUR).

Medical scientific output and specialization in Latin American countries

“Smart specialization” allows one to identify national strengths and weaknesses within research fields and establish priorities accordingly. It may be a useful strategy for building scientific capacity in developing and peripheral countries. The objective of this paper is to characterize the scientific output and specialization of the most productive Latin American countries with focus on international collaboration and impact. We conducted a descriptive study based on the SCImago Institutions Ranking (SIR) portal, in the field of Medicine, for the period 2003–2013. The set of indicators applied was based on documents, citation, and collaboration. The results show that at the global level, Surgery, Cardiology, Oncology, Neurology, and Public Health are the most productive subjects in Medicine; in Latin America the most productive topics are Public Health, Infectious Diseases, Surgery, Neurology, and Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine. The most prolific countries are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, though the ones having greater impact and more collaboration are Peru, Puerto Rico, and Argentina. The most productive and visible fields, such as Oncology, Cardiology, and Infectious Diseases, are related to major global health problems involving chronic and emerging diseases. This information could be useful to design pragmatic policies, to encourage research in key fields in order to respond better to the health needs of a given population.

Indian Research Institutions in the Government Sector in SIR 2017

Unlike other ranking exercises, e.g. ARWU, QS, THE, LEIDEN, etc. which deal only with universities and higher educational institutions, the SCImago Institutions Rankings (SIR) also cover research-focused institutions in the Government and private sector.

Scientific bridges between Cuba and the United States

Political differences between the governments of Cuba and the United States after 1959 have left a deep trace in multiple generations of both countries, including scientists. In fact, lack of scientific bridges between Cuba and the United States is a statement widely assimilated by public opinion. The U.S. government embargo affected all the spheres of Cuban life, and Science was not an exception. However, scientific interactions never have been in a dead point. The main aim of this brief communication is to reveal the characteristics of these scientific relations, and to confirm the increase of links between the two scientific communities from a bibliometric perspective. Scopus was used as data source. SCImago Institutions Rankings, a Scopus-based tool, was used to analyze leadership and collaboration patterns. Both countries exhibited similarities in association strategies for Research & Development activities, and revealed relative independence from international links. However, the United States was the fourth scientific partner of Cuban institutions, and international collaboration between Cuban and American scientists increased during the entire study period. Well-established research networks were identified. Enhancement of research alliances in the new political context should be expected.

A Proposal Of An Indicator To Evaluate Research Activities Based On Scimago Institu-tions Ranking (SIR) Data: An Application To Italian High Education Institutions.

In this paper we propose a synthetic indicator for evaluating Italian universities’ scientific research using the Scimago Institutions Ranking (SIR) 2014 data. Starting from some indicators computed by SIR, after having analysed the distribution shape, fitted parameters of some statistical models, calculated an appropriate standardization, we aggregate the indicators to get a Synthetic Indicator (from now, SI) of research evaluation. The obtained synthetic indicator has been used to rank Italian Higher Education Institutions (from now, HEIs). This ranking has been compared firstly with the ranking of National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR), based on the Evaluation of Research Quality (VRQ 2004-2010) results, in terms of standardized mark, and then with the ranking based on the assignments of the competitive allocation model (research share of FFO) yearly attributed to the Italian HEIs by the Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). The results of the analysis show a moderate positive correlation between SI and the VQR 2004-2010 indicators (r=0,543), and between SI and FFO per capita (r=0,487).The paper’s original contribution deals with a Synthetic Indicator with a Gaussian distribution summarizing the SIR variables and with the highlighting of a convergence between Italian ANVUR evaluation, based on peer to peer and bibliometric analysis, but using only few publications, and the analysis proposed in this paper, based on Scopus bibliometric data, and related to all the publications in the same period.