Elsevier Scopus database chosen for THE World University Rankings

Times Higher Education (THE) and Elsevier are partnering to provide the data behind THE’s flagship World University Rankings and its global university performance analyses.

The two organisations say the methodology of the global rankings will be broadly preserved. The rankings will continue to use comprehensive and balanced performance indicators to evaluate universities across all of their core missions, including research, knowledge transfer, international outlook, and – uniquely – the teaching environment.
 
However, research publication data will now be drawn from Elsevier’s Scopus database – the world’s largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed academic literature. With this data source, THE will be able to analyse more research activity from a greater number of institutions – including institutions from emerging economies, which account for a growing portion of research. THE will also use SciVal, Elsevier’s research metrics analysis tool, to continue to innovate its research performance metrics and analysis.
 
All institutional data collection, previously outsourced to Thomson Reuters, will be expanded and carried out by a dedicated team of data analysts at THE. This will underpin the THE World University Rankings, as well as supplementary rankings such as the THE 100 Under 50, the THE Asia Rankings and the THE BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings (from 2015).
 
THE and Elsevier are also launching the annual global academic reputation survey. This survey provides data for the World University Rankings and the World Reputation Rankings, to provide the most detailed picture yet of the world’s leading universities, judged by those who best understand excellence in teaching and research: the scholars themselves.
 
Trevor Barratt, managing director of THE, said: 'The THE World University Rankings are already exceptionally influential and our global performance indicators are in demand across the world. We are now entering an exciting new phase in the development of the THE’s gold-standard analyses. Our partnership with Elsevier will ensure that we remain at the forefront of developments and innovations in the evaluation of university performance.'
 
Nick Fowler, Elsevier’s managing director for research management, added: 'We are thrilled to partner with THE: the THE World University Rankings are a global leader in university rankings. They support university and industry leaders in setting strategic priorities and making investment decisions, and they help governments shape national policy.

'These objectives align with Elsevier’s: with our Research Intelligence portfolio, including Scopus and SciVal, we aim to help universities, funding bodies and governments establish and implement their strategies. We feel privileged to be playing an active role in helping universities calibrate their progress.'