World University Rankings 2024-2024 methodologyChange for the better: fuelled by more comprehensive data, the 2024-2024 rankings probe deeper than everSeptember 24, 2024Source: Peter GrundyThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings are the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. We use 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and even governments. The basic methodology for this year’s rankings is similar to that employed since the 2024-12 tables, but we have made important changes to the underlying data.The performance indicators are grouped into five areas:Teaching (the learning environment)Research (volume, income and reputation)Citations (research influence)International outlook (staff, students and research)Industry income (knowledge transfer).Note on comparisons with previous yearsBecause of changes in the underlying data, we strongly advise against direct comparisons with previous years’ World University Rankings.ExclusionsUniversities are excluded from the World University Rankings if they do not teach under-graduates or if their research output amounted to fewer than 200 articles per year over the five-year period 2024-14. In exceptional cases, institutions below the 200-paper threshold are included if they have a particular focus on disciplines with generally low publication volumes, such as engineering or the arts.Data collectionInstitutions provide and sign off their institutional data for use in the rankings. On the rare occasions when a particular d...
