Times Higher Education World University Research Articles

Determinants of private giving at ranked U.S. universities 2011-2020: A panel data quantile regression analysis

The purpose of this research is to conduct an analysis to identify which variables contribute to student giving to universities in the United States. For this study, data were collected from fifty U.S. universities, most of them in quantile 1 of The Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE Ranking) list. Also, information from the universities' financial statements and annual reports for the period 2011 to 2020 and information from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). The data were arranged in a panel data structure with a repeated structure for each cross-section. This structure is composed of fifty universities and ten years, as a time period, giving a total of 500 observations. When we perform the corresponding analysis, we can find that the variables that contribute to donations depend on the growth of State GDP, the type of university, university size, state contributions by Full Time Equivalent Students (FTE), the ranking score, tax rebates due to donations. Empirical evidence has also been found in which public universities receive less private giving than private universities. For this research we performed a panel data quantile regression analysis, to more accurately capture the variability of the data because top-ranked universities receive the most donations.

Analyzing and Improving Times Higher Education World University and Impact Rankings

Analyzing and Improving Times Higher Education World University and Impact Rankings

Federations of academic departments: performance-based funding and academic field-level expenditures at Russell group universities

ABSTRACT The widespread adoption of performance-based funding has been a global trend in higher education policy over the past 40 years. While considerable attention has been devoted to studying the relationship between performance-based funding and institutional behavior at the university level, little research has explored the relationship between performance-based funding and institutional decision-making behavior within universities. Conceptualizing universities as federations of academic departments, I used results from the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise to explore the relationship between those results and subsequent spending patterns within Russell Group universities. The most important finding is that this relationship varies based upon both the academic field and the university’s rank in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE-WUR). It also has implications for policymakers around the world as it underscores that policy decisions can have differential impacts not only across universities, but also within universities.

Are the best higher education institutions also more sustainable?

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the integration of sustainable practices in the strategies and operations of world-class higher education institutions (HEIs) under the theoretical guidance of Max Weber's instrumental and value rationalities. Design/methodology/approach The results of the Quacquarelli-Symonds World University Ranking, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, THE Impact Rankings and GreenMetric World University Ranking rankings from 2019 to 2022 were paired, and the correlation between them was verified. Institutions with simultaneous occurrence in the four rankings in at least one of the years were also classified. A quantitative and qualitative methodology was used to explore how elite HEIs integrate sustainable practices into their operations and strategies, under the theoretical guidance of Max Weber's instrumental and value rationalities. Furthermore, multivariate regression models with supervised data mining techniques were applied, using the SMOReg algorithm on 368 instances with multiple attributes, to predict the numerical value of sustainability in the rankings. Coefficients were assigned to variables to determine their relative importance in predicting rankings. Findings The results of this study suggest that although many HEIs demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, this rarely translates into improvements in traditional rankings, indicating a disconnect between sustainable practices and global academic recognition. Research limitations/implications The research has limitations, including the analysis being restricted to data from specific rankings between 2019 and 2022, which may limit generalization to future editions or rankings. The predictive models used selected data and, therefore, cannot cover the full complexity of metrics from other rankings. Furthermore, internal factors of HEIs were not considered, and the correlations identified do not imply direct causality. The limited sample and potential methodological biases, together with the heterogeneity of the rankings, restrict the generalization of the results. These limitations should be considered in future studies. Practical implications The theoretical contributions of this study include an in-depth understanding of the intersection between academic excellence and environmental and social responsibility. From a management perspective, guidance is provided on integrating sustainability into HEI strategies to enhance visibility and classification in global rankings, while maintaining academic integrity and commitment to sustainability. Social implications This highlights the importance of reassessing academic rankings criteria to include sustainability assessments, thereby encouraging institutions to adopt practices that genuinely contribute to global sustainable development. Originality/value The originality lies in the predictive analysis between these rankings, examining the link between the level of sustainability of an HEI and its classification as a World Class University. Furthermore, it combines theories of rationality with the analysis of sustainability integration in elite HEIs, introducing new analytical perspectives that can influence future educational policies and institutional practices.

How are global university rankings adjusted for erroneous science, fraud and misconduct? Posterior reduction or adjustment in rankings in response to retractions and invalidation of scientific findings

Global university rankings (GURs), such as the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE WUR), Quacquarelli Symonds University World Rankings (QS UWR) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) are positively incremental, that is, they do not reflect any level of penalisation in response to unscholarly activity, especially in the field of research and publication. In the light of an increasing trend in fraud, such as the use of paper mills and authorship-for-sale schemes, this letter proposes that GURs need to be reduced, or penalised, in response to cases of misconduct and instances of retractions. In the absence of a transparent corrective system, GURs will be further criticised for being unfair, biased and not reflective of an evolving and unstable academic publishing ecosystem.

Methods and technologies for evaluating the quality of higher education in the context of international standards: A comparison of the Ukrainian and Polish experience of creating ratings

The need to study the methods and technologies used to assess the level of educational services is primarily due to constant transformations in educational processes, improvement of the system of criteria used to rank higher education institutions. The purpose of this study was to analyse the tools used to assess the performance of higher education institutions in the context of international standardization of educational processes. The main methods used in the study were statistical analysis, comparative and contrastive and analytical and synthetic methods. The comparative and contrastive analysis revealed that research activities were among the main indicators that influenced the creation of the rankings: Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings (60%), TOP-200 Ukraine (42%), Perspektywy (42%), and prestige and reputation: QS World University Rankings (40%), Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings (30%), TOP-200 Ukraine (12%). The methods used to create the rankings included statistical, pedagogical analysis, analytical and synthetic methods, and surveys. To create the Ukrainian ranking, 6 international (Webometrics, Scopus, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings, UniRank, QS World University Rankings) and 4 national (participation in research project competitions, number of patents received, awards for young scientists, the ratio between the number of applications and the competition score) indicators were used. The Polish ranking was based on 29 indicators divided into groups: prestige, scientific effectiveness, scientific strength, scientific and educational potential, internationalization, graduates on the labour market, innovation, study conditions, and economic cooperation. In Poland, there was a balance between international and national criteria, while in Ukraine, about 70% of international criteria and 30% of national criteria were used. This work can be used in the future to improve national and international systems for assessing the quality of higher education, and to develop a unified mechanism for creating ratings

Рейтинги университетов мира: особенности и различия в методологии

This paper analyses world university rankings. Rankings remain a tool for assessing the effectiveness of edu-cational activities of both individual universities and national educational systems as a whole. The work consid-ers the methodologies of the QS World University Rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (AR-WU), the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), and the Moscow International University Ranking “Three Missions of the University”. Global rankings of leading universities can be based on various indicators and criteria, such as: academic reputation, quality of teaching and research activities, publication activity of faculties, international cooperation, university infrastructure and resources, as well as international influence and attractiveness for students. However, it is important to note that the methodology of university rankings has its own peculiarities and limitations. University rankings can be subjective, not taking into account all aspects of university activity and regional, political, and social peculiarities of higher education systems.

Ranking resilience: assessing the impact of scientific performance and the expansion of the Times Higher Education Word University Rankings on the position of Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak universities

University rankings are gaining importance worldwide. While the top-ranked universities are the subject of numerous academic publications, very little literature is available on universities in the lower two-thirds of the ranking list. In this study, we analysed the sensitivity of year to year changes in position in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) of universities from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia using hypothetical scenarios of potential changes in their research outputs. A regression model was developed that quantifies the effect of the inclusion of institutions that are new to ranking as well as dropouts on the ranking list. We also developed a method to allow customized sensitivity analysis of the subsequent year's rank from an institution's projected research output, given its current rank and research output, assuming that other ranking indicators remain unchanged over 1–2 years. It should be noted that most universities in the region have ranked below 800, and while research output has been increasing, it was observed that ranks worsened for most universities from these four countries. The Field-Weighted Citation Impact and the total volume of publications had the highest effect on rankings, while the proportion of Scimago Q1 publications did not have a consistent effect on the projected next year's ranks. In most universities, the growth in research performance indicators were below the level that would be required to offset the rank changes due to the inclusion of new entrants in ranking. The findings of this research suggest that universities have to consider complex strategies to improve their ranking focusing on other activities than research such as reputation, internationalization, or industry income. With due caution, our results might be generalized to most of the universities below 800 in the THE. The rank prediction tool presented in this article is available online at https://hecon.uni-obuda.hu/en/rank-calculator/.

The development of world’s best universities -Visual analysis of TIMES university rankings based on Tableau

With the stable and gradual development of the world economy, people have lived a better life than in the previous decade. In order to allow children to receive better education, studying abroad has become a very popular choice for students. The rapid increase in the number of international students also provides sufficient research motivation significance for how to screen the work of world universities. The Times Higher Education World University rankings, as a well-recognized basis for world university rankings, has become the research focus of this paper. In addition, the methodology of THE world university rankings and the original database (from kaggle) of the research on the 2023 university rankings are emphasized, and the analysis and research work are mainly carried out from the three aspects of teaching; research and citations. Enter the data into Tableau to get an intuitive visual chart to illustrate the ranking of world-class universities and the relationship between the above three aspects. At the same time, it intuitively shows the ranking of the world's top universities’ distribution, also the number and popularity of international students. Give international students objective advice on studying abroad to help students choose the universities they are interested in more intuitively.

Relationship between bibliometric indicators and university ranking positions

A growing interest for demonstrating prestige and status of higher education institutions has spurred the establishment of several international ranking systems. A major percentage of these rankings include parameters related to scientific productivity. Here, we examined the differences between diverse rankings as well as correlation with bibliometric parameters and disciplines for the top universities. We investigated the top 300 universities from four international rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE), the QS World University Rankings (QS) the ShanghaiRanking-Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the U.S.News Best Global Universities Ranking (USNews). The assessed parameters include ranking positions, size related and bibliometrics-related indicators of each selected ranking. The weight of scientometric parameters ranges between 20% (QS) and 75% (USNews). The most important parameters defining ranking positions include citations, international reputation, and the number of researchers, but the correlation strength varies among ranking systems. The absolute number of publications and citations are particularly important in ARWU and USNews rankings, and scientific category normalized (field weighted) citation impact is central in THE and USNews rankings. Our results confirm that universities having outstanding results in rankings using size-independent indicators (QS and THE) compared to others have significantly lower number of students. High impact research can improve position in ARWU and USNews ranking lists. Regarding to different disciplines, the main results show that outstanding universities in THE ranking have higher publication activity in social sciences and universities which perform better in USNews and QS ranking have more publications in science, technology, and medicine fields and lower score in social sciences. In brief, here we present a comprehensive analysis of the correlation between scientometric parameters and university ranking positions, as well as the performance of outstanding universities and their correlation with different disciplines, to help decision makers select parameters for strengthening and to attract the interest of prospective students and their parents via a better understanding of the functions of different ranks.

Uniwersytet w imadle rankingów

The author of the article focuses on a critical assessment of university rankings existing in general, not only in academic, space. Three different rankings with an international reach: (1) The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) also known as the Shanghai Ranking, (2) Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), (3) CWTS Leiden Ranking and one Polish ranking: The Perspektywy University Ranking have been subjected to a detailed critical evaluation. The main objection raised against the discussed international rankings is disregarding by them scientific works published in national languages of the authors. This decision of rankings’ creators is particularly detrimental to universities with scientifically strong faculties in the field of humanities and social sciences. The fact that monographs are ignored is difficult to comprehend (e.g. CWTS Leiden Ranking). Moreover, favouring publications in two journals: “Science” and “Nature” as well as the Nobel Prize and the Fields Medal (mathematics) has no deeper justification. The author calls for recognition of monographs and also academic textbooks which shape the culture of university. The percentage proportion of particular criteria in the total assessment leading to ranking results – which, in fact, boils down to marginalising scientific achievements of representatives of humanities and, partly, social sciences – raises the author’s reservations. Finally, if we look at our Polish local “backyard” where universities were fragmented after the Second World War and rebuilt according to the Soviet model of higher education with smaller higher education entities of a narrower profile (medical, agricultural, economic, sports) functioning alongside standard universities which had been stripped of these sections, we will notice that these classic, “full” universities have no chance of competing for a scientifically decent position in world rankings.

Establishing an Online Writing Center for Health Professions Education

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the commonly-used modules of Online Writing Centers worldwide to establish the first Online Writing Center in the context of health professions education in Iran. Design/methodology/approach: This observational study was conducted during 2019-2021. In the initial round of search, we identified 61 eligible OWCs whose websites comprised 14 common modules. Then, we searched the top universities according to 2021 Times Higher Education World University Ranking. We probed the modules of the writing centers of the included universities by using a Google form. We identified the modules repeatedly appearing on the websites of the writing centers, and then reviewed the content of each module in order to find a common label which could later be used for constructing our online writing center. Findings: Our final search yielded 26 universities with 22 common modules. The researchers came to a consensus about the modules to be included and the labels assigned to them. Finally, a website was created, and the modules were included. Value of paper: Online Writing Centers scaffold students by giving feedback on word choice errors and assist them in producing grammatically accurate texts. The Online Writing Centers being designed based on the findings of this study can assist many researchers who intend to publish their scientific findings in English.

Codes of Conduct for Undergraduate Teaching in the Top-400 Universities on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Teaching codes of conduct form part of the ethics infrastructure of universities seeking to raise teaching standards and promote academic integrity. These codes stipulate desired teaching practices necessary for faculty members to make informed choices regarding their teaching role performance. This study investigated the existence of publicly posted codes of conduct for undergraduate teaching in a random sample of 100 universities ranked among the Times Higher Education World University Rankings top-400 institutions. Based on DiMaggio & Powell’s (1983) model of institutional isomorphism, we posited the Times Higher Education World University Rankings top-400 institutions as an organizational field. Findings reveal tepid isomorphic pressures for codes of conduct in this organizational field as a slight majority of these top universities publicly post codes of conduct with tenets reflective of ethical principles for teaching. Lower ranked universities post codes with more of these tenets than higher ranked universities and in particular tenets very protective of students as clients. These tenets relate to moral behavior and whose ethical infringement have legal ramifications, such as not having sexual relationships with students, harassing students, or teaching while intoxicated from alcohol or drugs. Isomorphic pressures to publicly post codes may be stronger among lower ranked universities that emphasize teaching and research. Since a code of conduct may increase faculty members’ sensitivity to ethical issues but not actually promote ethical behavior, we recommend reinforcement activities for faculty members.

Kontribusi Penelitian Universitas terhadap Pendapatan Industri: Bukti Empiris dari Top University di Indonesia

Competition does not only occur in the business world, but universities also must compete against competition from both domestic and foreign universities. One important indicator for university ranking is industry revenue which reflects commercial value and strengthens university-industry collaboration. The purpose of this study is to obtain empirical evidence regarding the effect of teaching, research, and citations on industrial income. This study uses a multiple linear regression approach, using data from The Times Higher Education World University Ranking from 2019-2023 to get a sample of universities in Indonesia which are included in it. The results showed that teaching had no significant effect on industrial income, research had a significant positive effect on industrial income, and citations had a significant negative effect on industrial income.

Bibliometric Analysis of Top-Ranked European Law Schools’ Research Outputs: an East–West Comparison

The paper deals with a bibliometric analysis of a sample of the top law schools included in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022. An equal number of Western European and Central and Eastern European law schools have been analysed. The results show that both groups follow similar publication patterns. There is a clear tendency to publish in journals controlled by the authors’ universities. Citation rates in the sample are very low, and in line with what has already been found for humanities. There is a clear division between the multidisciplinary and transnational legal journals that are more international and less internationally recognised law reviews focusing on domestic issues. Law clearly follows its own publication pattern, and the East–West division is in this respect negligible: both groups perform equally well (or equally poorly) as far as the metrics indicate.

ІНСТРУМЕНТИ ВИМІРЮВАННЯ ЯКОСТІ ОСВІТНЬОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ У КОНТЕКСТІ ЗА БЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ЇЇ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ В УМОВАХ ВОЄННОГО СТАНУ І ПІСЛЯВОЄННОГО ВІДНОВЛЕННЯ КРАЇНИ

Summary. This article the determined that there are various mechanisms for assessing the quality of educa-tional activity of higher education institutions: accredita-tion, framework and rating, but university ratings are the most optimal mechanism for measuring the quality of educational activity in the context of ensuring its effec-tiveness. The indicators for measuring the quality of edu-cational activity used in the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), the European Teaching Rankings (THE Europe Teaching Rankings) were analyzed the Shanghai Aca-demic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking, ARWU), the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd) World University Rankings, QS), national rating "TОР-200". According to the criteria of dominance of objective or subjective and result or reputation components, the main international university rankings can be ranked in the following order: (Shanghai Ranking) – objective, result; THE World University Rankings – objective-subjective, result-reputational; QS World University Rankings –sub-jective-objective, reputation-resultative; reputational andadvertising.The use of this approach to ensure the quality of edu-cational activity will improve the reputation of national universities in the world educational space, and in the modern conditions of war and in the period of post-war reconstruction, it will provide an opportunity to update and update educational programs, increase the im-portance of universities as a leading component of the socio-economic recovery of the country.

Análise do desempenho das principais universidades que participam no World University Rankings - Times Higher Education (THE)

Abstract Global university rankings are important indicators that measure the ability of universities to positively impact society. This study aimed to analyze the determining factors in the academic performance and sustainability of universities across participating continents in THE Ranking. Regarding the methodology, it is classified as a descriptive, quantitative study that considered the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the sustainability level of the countries where the universities are in the analysis of academic performance. This performance was measured through the World University Rankings by Times Higher Education (THE). The main findings are as follows: a strong relationship was found between country-level characteristics such as GDP, HDI, and the scores in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, suggesting that the characteristics of the country influence the performance and sustainability level of each university. Similarly, research and teaching groups have the most impact on the overall score of the top university.

Enhancing sustainable development goals or promoting universities? An analysis of the times higher education impact rankings

Purpose This study aims to analyse and evaluate the methodology followed by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (THE-IR), as well as the coverage obtained and the data offered by this ranking, to determine if its methodology reflects the degree of sustainability of universities, and whether their results are accurate enough to be used as a data source for research and strategic decision-making. Design/methodology/approach A summative content analysis of the THE-IR methodology was conducted, paying special attention to the macro-structure (university score) and micro-structure (sustainable development goals [SDG] score) levels of the research-related metrics. Then, the data published by THE-IR in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 edition was collected via web scraping. After that, all the data was statistically analysed to find out performance rates, SDGs’ success rates and geographic distributions. Finally, a pairwise comparison of the THE-IR against the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE-WUR) was conducted to calculate overlap measures. Findings Severe inconsistencies in the THE-IR methodology have been found, offering a distorted view of sustainability in higher education institutions, allowing different strategic actions to participate in the ranking (interested, strategic, committed and outperformer universities). The observed growing number of universities from developing countries and the absence of world-class universities reflect an opportunity for less-esteemed institutions, which might have a chance to gain reputation based on their efforts towards sustainability, but from a flawed ranking which should be avoided for decision-making. Practical implications University managers can be aware of the THE-IR validity when demanding informed decisions. University ranking researchers and practitioners can access a detailed analysis of the THE-IR to determine its properties as a ranking and use raw data from THE-IR in other studies or reports. Policy makers can use the main findings of this work to avoid misinterpretations when developing public policies related to the evaluation of the contribution of universities to the SDGs. Otherwise, these results can help the ranking publisher to improve some of the inconsistencies found in this study. Social implications Given the global audience of the THE-IR, this work contributes to minimising the distorted vision that the THE-IR projects about sustainability in higher education institutions, and alerts governments, higher education bodies and policy makers to take precautions when making decisions based on this ranking. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this contribution is the first providing an analysis of the THE-IR’s methodology. The faults in the methodology, the coverage at the country-level and the overlap between THE-IR and THE-WUR have unveiled the existence of specific strategies in the participation of universities, of interest both for experts in university rankings and SDGs.

Questionable conferences and presenters from top-ranked universities

This article aims to investigate the structures of 935 conferences organised by OMICS and 296 conferences organised by WASET from 2015 through 2017. These conferences are characterised in existing literature as so-called predatory or questionable conferences that provide low-quality academic meetings. We analyse 40,224 presenters, focusing on top-ranked institutions according to three global university ranking systems (Academic Ranking of World Universities, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and QS World University Rankings). Our analysis shows that participants in OMICS events were primarily researchers from the United States, India, the United Kingdom, and China. WASET attracted more researchers from Turkey, India, and South Korea. We found that 11.0% of OMICS and 5.7% of WASET presenters were affiliated with institutions ranked in the top 100 in one of the three aforementioned rankings. We also found that both companies mostly organised conferences in cities that were top tourist destinations.

PECULIARITIES OF FORMATION OF FACTORS OF INCREASING COMPETITIVENESS IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

This work is devoted to the study of factors that shape the competitiveness of higher education institutions in the international market of educational services. To this end, the work considers the areas of state participation, which provide incentives for the export of educational services that have not only financial but also reputational and innovative benefits. In addition, it is noted that specialized organizations that operate in many countries and are involved in attracting foreign students to their country (for example, national agencies, academic services, educational foundations, international exchange centers, etc.) and educational TNCs (as DAAD, British Council, CIMO, EduFrance 35, IDP Education Australia, etc.) play an important role. International organizations (such as the Council of Europe, UNESCO, the World Bank, the OECD, etc.) also form an information and advisory field for the international market of educational services, public authorities - regulatory. Increasing competition in the international market of educational services encourages the identification of factors that affect the competitiveness of educational institutions and their competitive advantages. These include the following: stability of financial and economic situation and flexible pricing policy, development of international relations and its advertising activities, the formation of a positive image, the availability of innovative educational programs using information technology, geographical location, specifics of public and private funding, teaching quality and training, etc. However, it is necessary not only to have them, but also to use them correctly, depending on the specifics of each educational institution. In addition, rankings are considered an effective tool for ensuring the quality of higher education. In the course of this work the top institutions of higher education according to QS World University Ranking, Academic Ranking of World Universities, Times Higher Education World University Ranking are analyzed. This revealed that American higher education institutions have the greatest competitive advantages in the international market of educational services and accumulate a large percentage of foreign students.