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Ranking
Global Ranking of Academic Subjects
Methodology

ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects Methodology 2024

1. Ranking Subjects

In ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024, institutions are ranked in 55 subjects across Natural Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, and Social Sciences.

Fields
Subjects
Natural Sciences
Mathematics
Natural Sciences
Physics
Natural Sciences
Chemistry
Natural Sciences
Earth Sciences
Natural Sciences
Geography
Natural Sciences
Ecology
Natural Sciences
Oceanography
Natural Sciences
Atmospheric Science
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Engineering
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Engineering
Automation & Control
Engineering
Telecommunication Engineering
Engineering
Instruments Science & Technology
Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Engineering
Computer Science & Engineering
Engineering
Civil Engineering
Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Engineering
Materials Science & Engineering
Engineering
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Engineering
Energy Science & Engineering
Engineering
Environmental Science & Engineering
Engineering
Water Resources
Engineering
Food Science & Technology
Engineering
Biotechnology
Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Engineering
Marine/Ocean Engineering
Engineering
Transportation Science & Technology
Engineering
Remote Sensing
Engineering
Mining & Mineral Engineering
Engineering
Metallurgical Engineering
Engineering
Textile Science & Engineering
Life Sciences
Biological Sciences
Life Sciences
Human Biological Sciences
Life Sciences
Agricultural Sciences
Life Sciences
Veterinary Sciences
Medical Sciences
Clinical Medicine
Medical Sciences
Public Health
Medical Sciences
Dentistry & Oral Sciences
Medical Sciences
Nursing
Medical Sciences
Medical Technology
Medical Sciences
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Social Sciences
Economics
Social Sciences
Statistics
Social Sciences
Law
Social Sciences
Political Sciences
Social Sciences
Sociology
Social Sciences
Education
Social Sciences
Communication
Social Sciences
Psychology
Social Sciences
Business Administration
Social Sciences
Finance
Social Sciences
Management
Social Sciences
Public administration
Social Sciences
Hospitality & Tourism Management
Social Sciences
Library & Information Science
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2. Candidate Universities

The Global Ranking of Academic Subjects has scrutinised the universities that have published a certain number of publications during the period of 2019-2023. The publication threshold is set differently for different subjects. Bibliometric data are collected from Web of Science and InCites.

2024 ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects Selection of Universities

Fields
Subjects
Publication Threshold
Listed Universities
Natural Sciences
Mathematics
100
500
Physics
300
500
Chemistry
200
500
Earth Sciences
100
500
Geography
100
300
Ecology
100
500
Oceanography
50
200
Atmospheric Science
50
400
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
100
400
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
150
500
Automation & Control
100
200
Telecommunication Engineering
100
300
Instruments Science & Technology
100
300
Biomedical Engineering
100
300
Computer Science & Engineering
150
500
Civil Engineering
100
300
Chemical Engineering
100
500
Materials Science & Engineering
200
500
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
150
400
Energy Science & Engineering
200
400
Environmental Science & Engineering
200
500
Water Resources
100
200
Food Science & Technology
100
300
Biotechnology
100
500
Aerospace Engineering
50
50
Marine/Ocean Engineering
50
50
Transportation Science & Technology
50
200
Remote Sensing
50
100
Mining & Mineral Engineering
25
100
Metallurgical Engineering
100
200
Textile Science & Engineering
50
50
Life Sciences
Biological Sciences
200
500
Human Biological Sciences
100
500
Agricultural Sciences
100
500
Veterinary Sciences
50
300
Medical Sciences
Clinical Medicine
300
500
Public Health
200
500
Dentistry & Oral Sciences
50
300
Nursing
50
300
Medical Technology
100
400
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
100
500
Social Sciences
Economics
50
500
Statistics
100
200
Law
50
300
Political Sciences
50
400
Sociology
50
200
Education
50
500
Communication
50
200
Psychology
100
500
Business Administration
50
400
Finance
50
200
Management
50
500
Public administration
25
200
Hospitality & Tourism Management
50
200
Library & Information Science
50
100
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Web of Science categories are mapped to 55 academic subjects (mapping relations).

3. Scoring

The Rankings use a range of objective academic indicators and third-party data to measure the performance of world universities in relevant subjects, including categories such as World-Class Faculty, World-Class Output, High-Quality Research, Research Impact, and International Collaboration. The World-Class Faculty category introduces four new indicators: International Academic Award Laureates (Laureate), Highly Cited Researchers (HCR), Chief Editors of International Academic Journals (Editor), and International Academic Organization Leadership (Leadership). The World-Class Output category encompasses Top Journal Papers (TJ) and International Academic Awards (Award), along with Q1 Journal Papers (Q1) under the High-Quality Research category, Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI) under Research Impact category, and International Collaborated Papers (IC) under International Collaboration category. The indexes of top journals, international academic awards, and key academic organizations are based on Academic Excellence Survey (AES) conducted by ShanghaiRanking.

For each indicator, institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top-scored institution, then the square root of the percentage is multiplied by the allocated weight. The final score is obtained by adding the score of each indicator, and universities are ranked in descending order.

In calculating the CNCI score, the maximum value of CNCI in a subject is set as the lower value of: (1) either twice of the average CNCI for all institutions in this subject; (2) or the maximum of the CNCI for all institutions in this subject. The CNCI score of the institution is calculated as the proportion of their CNCI to the maximum value. If an institution’s CNCI is higher than the maximum value, its CNCI score is assigned as 100%.

4. Definition of Indicators

Category Indicator Definition
World-Class Faculty LAUREATE International Academic Award Laureates (Laureate) refers to the number of full-time faculty members employed by an institution as of April 2024 who have received significant international academic awards within an Academic Subject. The significant awards in each subject are selected through ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Excellence Survey. 46 prestigious international academic awards across 32 subjects were identified by the Survey. Only those laureates who are currently 80 years old or younger are counted. If a laureate receives multiple awards within the same subject or receives the same award in different years, this laureate is counted only once.
World-Class Faculty HCR Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) are faculty members at an institution who have demonstrated significant influence in their Academic Subjects, as selected by Clarivate. The Highly Cited Researchers list issued in January 2024 was used for calculating the HCR indicator in GRAS 2024. If a Highly Cited Researcher receives recognition in more than one Academic Subject, each subject is counted separately. Only the primary affiliations of Highly Cited Researchers are considered.
World-Class Faculty EDITOR Chief Editors of International Academic Journals (Editor) measures the number of faculty members employed by an institution who currently serve as chief editors of international journals indexed by SCIE, SSCI and AHCI from 2021 Journal Citation Report (JCR) by Clarivate as of December 2023. The chief editors include Editor-in-Chief, Co-Editor, Deputy-Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor, Associate Editor, Executive Editor, etc. Different weights are set according to the positions and number of chief editors holding the same position. The weight for Editor-in-Chief and equivalent positions is 200%, and the weight for Deputy-Editor-in-Chief and equivalent positions is 100%. The weight is equally assigned to chief editors holding the same type of positions within the same journal. Only the primary affiliations of chief editors displayed on the journals official website are considered.
World-Class Faculty LEADERSHIP International Academic Organization Leadership (Leadership) refers to the number of faculty members employed by an institution who currently hold leadership and senior executive positions in key international academic organizations as of April 2024. These positions include President, Vice President, Secretary General, Associate General Secretary, and other leadership roles within governing bodies such as executive committees, boards, or councils. The Key International Academic Organization in each subject are nominated through ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Excellence Survey. In 2024, 22 international academic organizations across 17 subjects were selected by the Survey. Different weights are set according to the positions and number of leaders holding the same positions. The weight for President and Secretary General is 200%, and the weight for Vice Presidents, Associate Secretary General and other leadership positions is 100%. If multiple leaders hold the same type of position within the same organization, the weight is equally assigned to them. Only the primary affiliations of the current leaders displayed on the organization’s official website are considered.
World-Class Output TJ Top Journal Papers (TJ) is the number of papers published in Top Journals or Top Conferences within an Academic Subject by an institution during the period of 2019-2023. Top Journals and Top Conferences are nominated by distinguished scholars through ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Excellence Survey. In 2024, 170 top journals identified by the Survey are used in rankings of 46 Academic Subjects. In Computer Science Engineering, 26 selected top conferences are also taken into account this year. For the remaining 8 Academic Subjects, Q1 category journals that primarily belong to the respective Academic Subject are used as substitutes. Only publications classified as Article” are considered. If a Top Journal has not published any Article type papers in the period of 2019-2023, the number of Review type papers is counted instead.
World-Class Output AWARD International Academic Awards (Award) refers to the total number of the staff of an institution winning a significant award in an Academic Subject since 1991. Staff is defined as those who work full-time at an institution at the time of winning the prize. If a researcher retired at the time of winning the award, we count the institution where the researcher’s last full-time academic position was held. The significant awards in each subject are nominated through ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Excellence Survey. 46 prestigious international academic awards across 32 subjects were identified by the Survey. If a winner is affiliated with more than one institution at the time of winning the award, each institution is assigned the reciprocal of the number of institutions. If the award is awarded to more than one winner in one year, weights are set for winners according to their proportion of the prize. Different weights are set according to the periods of winning the prizes, diminishing by 25% each retrograde decade. The weight is 100% for winners in 2021-2023, 75% for winners in 2010-2020, 50% for winners in 2000-2010, and 25% for winners in 1991-2000. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is selected for Biological Sciences, Human Biological Sciences, Clinical Medicine, and Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences. Winners of this award are assigned to one or more subjects according to the topics of their recognized contributions. If a contribution belongs to more than one subject, the winner will be counted once for each relevant subject.
High Quality Research Q1 The number of influential journal publications (Q1) is an important measure of an institution’s research output in the corresponding subject. Q1 refers to the number of papers published by an institution in an Academic Subject within journals ranked in Q1 based on the Journal Impact Factor during the period of 2019-2023. Only publications classified as “Article” are considered. Data are collected from Web of Science and InCites. Publications from different Web of Science categories are grouped into relevant Academic Subjects.
Research Impact CNCI Category Normalized Citation Impact (CNCI) is the ratio of the citations received by an institutions published papers to the average citations of papers in the same category, year, and type of journal publication within an Academic Subject during the period of 2019-2023. A CNCI value of 1 represents world-average performance. A CNCI below 1 indicates that the citation times of this group publications are lower than the average level, while a CNCI above 1 signifies that the paper’s citation performance exceeds the average level. Only publications classified as “Article” are considered. Data are collected from InCites database.
International Collaboration IC International collaboration (IC) is an indicator used to evaluate the level of international collaboration in the respective subject between institutions. The ratio of the number of publications that have been found in at least two different countries in addresses of the authors to the total number of publications in the respective subject for an institution during the period of 2019-2023. Only publications classified as “Article” are considered. Data are collected from InCites database.

5. Data Sources

Indicator Sources
LAUREATE Academic Excellence Survey (AES). https://www.shanghairanking.com/activities/aes;
official websites of the top awards selected by AES
HCR Highly Cited Researchers. https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/
EDITOR Journal Citation Reports (JCR). https://jcr.clarivate.com/jcr/home;
official website of journals indexed by JCR 2021
LEADERSHIP Academic Excellence Survey (AES). https://www.shanghairanking.com/activities/aes;
official websites of the key international organizations selected by AES
TJ Academic Excellence Survey (AES). https://www.shanghairanking.com/activities/aes;
official websites of the top journals selected by AES
AWARD Academic Excellence Survey (AES). https://www.shanghairanking.com/activities/aes;
official websites of the top awards selected by AES
Q1 InCites database. https://incites.clarivate.com/#/analytics
CNCI InCites database. https://incites.clarivate.com/#/analytics
IC InCites database. https://incites.clarivate.com/#/analytics

6. Indicators and Weights

Different weights are allocated to the indicators for different subjects, as listed below.

2024 ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects Indicators and Weights

Fields
Subjects
World-Class Faculty
World-Class Output
High Quality Research
Research Impact
International Collaboration
Laureate
HCR
Editor
Leadership
TJ
Award
Q1
CNCI
IC
Natural Sciences
Mathematics
40
0
60
20
100
100
100
50
20
Physics
60
60
60
20
100
100
100
50
20
Chemistry
60
60
60
0
100
100
100
50
20
Earth Sciences
40
40
60
10
100
80
100
50
20
Geography
0
20
60
10
100
0
100
50
20
Ecology
0
40
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Oceanography
40
0
40
0
80
40
100
50
20
Atmospheric Science
60
40
40
0
100
100
100
50
20
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
40
20
60
0
60
60
100
50
20
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
40
20
40
10
40
80
100
50
20
Automation & Control
40
40
60
0
80
60
100
50
20
Telecommunication Engineering
40
20
20
20
100
60
100
50
20
Instruments Science & Technology
0
0
20
0
100
0
100
50
20
Biomedical Engineering
0
20
60
0
60
0
100
50
20
Computer Science & Engineering
60
40
40
20
100
100
100
50
20
Civil Engineering
0
0
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Chemical Engineering
40
20
40
0
100
20
100
50
20
Materials Science & Engineering
60
60
60
10
80
100
100
50
20
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
0
0
40
0
100
0
100
50
20
Energy Science & Engineering
20
20
60
0
100
20
100
50
20
Environmental Science & Engineering
20
60
60
0
100
40
100
50
20
Water Resources
20
20
60
0
100
40
100
50
20
Food Science & Technology
0
20
40
0
100
0
100
50
20
Biotechnology
0
20
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Aerospace Engineering
0
0
40
0
80
0
100
50
20
Marine/Ocean Engineering
20
0
20
0
40
20
100
50
20
Transportation Science & Technology
0
20
20
0
100
0
100
50
20
Remote Sensing
0
20
20
0
80
0
100
50
20
Mining & Mineral Engineering
0
0
40
0
40
0
100
50
20
Metallurgical Engineering
20
0
40
0
100
20
100
50
20
Textile Science & Engineering
0
0
40
0
100
0
100
50
20
Life Sciences
Biological Sciences
20
60
60
0
100
80
100
50
20
Human Biological Sciences
20
40
60
0
100
40
100
50
20
Agricultural Sciences
0
40
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Veterinary Sciences
0
0
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Medical Sciences
Clinical Medicine
60
60
60
0
100
100
100
50
20
Public Health
0
60
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Dentistry & Oral Sciences
40
0
40
10
60
80
100
50
20
Nursing
40
0
40
0
80
60
100
50
20
Medical Technology
40
20
60
0
60
80
100
50
20
Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
0
40
60
0
40
20
100
50
20
Social Sciences
Economics
40
20
60
10
100
100
100
50
10
Statistics
40
20
40
0
100
80
100
50
10
Law
0
0
60
0
40
0
100
50
10
Political Sciences
60
20
60
20
80
100
100
50
10
Sociology
0
0
60
0
80
0
100
50
10
Education
0
0
60
0
40
0
100
50
10
Communication
0
0
60
20
100
0
100
50
10
Psychology
40
60
60
0
80
40
100
50
10
Business Administration
0
20
60
0
100
0
100
50
20
Finance
0
20
40
20
100
0
100
50
10
Management
0
20
60
10
100
0
100
50
10
Public Administration
40
20
40
0
80
20
100
50
10
Hospitality & Tourism Management
40
40
40
0
100
60
100
50
10
Library & Information Science
20
20
40
0
80
20
100
50
20
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If you have any questions or comments about the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, please contact us in the following ways.

Contact details:

Tel: +86 (0)21-33562188 ext. 8075

Email: pr@shanghairanking.com

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