THE Impact Rankings, Scopus and SciVal

What are the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings?

In response to the growing demand to understand and document the broader impact that universities have on society, Times Higher Education (THE) launched its Impact Rankings Wird in neuem Tab/Fenster geöffnet in 2019. According to THE, the introduction of these rankings marked the world’s first effort to capture evidence of a university’s effect on society. Unlike traditional world university ranking models, which primarily focus on research and teaching, the THE Impact Rankings also consider institutions’ contributions to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) Wird in neuem Tab/Fenster geöffnet. Today, the THE Impact Rankings remain the only rankings that specifically evaluate university performance and success in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Times Higher Education itself refers to the Impact Rankings as a “catalyst for action, a mechanism for holding our universities to account, and an opportunity for them to highlight great work that they are already doing.¹”

Who participates in the THE Impact Rankings?

Participation in the THE Impact Rankings is voluntary - the only requirement is that your institution teaches at an undergraduate or postgraduate level. And since the rankings were launched, the number of universities taking part has more than quadrupled; from 450 in 2019 to 2,152 in 2024. Multiple factors are driving this growth. Awareness of the UN SDGs globally is on the rise, with many believing that they are key to combating the urgent societal challenges we face today. But there is also growing pressure on universities, governments and funders to demonstrate that the public money they invest in research is delivering a broader impact on society.

What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

The Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)  Wird in neuem Tab/Fenster geöffnetare the cornerstone of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by UN member states in 2015. They have been designed to reflect the fact that “ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”

How are the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings calculated?

THE aims to keep the participation requirements as simple as possible; this includes limiting the volume of data that universities must submit. More details on the methodology can be found here: Impact Rankings 2024 methodology page Wird in neuem Tab/Fenster geöffnet. To help it achieve this goal, THE collaborated with Vertigo Ventures and Elsevier to develop the methodology by incorporating consultation and input from individual universities, academics and sector groups. In addition to data provided by submitting universities, the methods also include bibliometrics through data from Elsevier’s Scopus database and metrics extracted from SciVal. THE believes this approach enables them to provide “comprehensive and balanced comparisons” across four key areas of university activity:

• Research

• Stewardship

• Outreach

• Teaching

How does the THE Impact Rankings methodology work in practice?

1. THE’s ranking methodology is based on each individual SDG, meaning that every SDG has its own unique requirements. A participating university selects the SDG(s) it wishes to be assessed on and submits the relevant data and evidence.

2. THE combines the information your university provides with data from other sources. THE evaluates how your university has performed against each SDG using metrics it has developed for that specific goal SDG.

3. If your university provides data on SDG 17, Partnerships and the Goals, and at least three other SDGs, it will be included in the overall ranking.

4. THE also publishes 17 individual rankings tables, one for each SDG.

How does Elsevier contribute to the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings?

The Times Higher Education Impact rankings, like many other university ranking methodologies, include bibliometric datasets as a key component. For universities, the chance to access and interpret the same bibliometric datasets used by ranking bodies can provide significant insights.

What do Scopus data & SciVal bring to the THE Impact Rankings?

Along with QS and U.S. News & World Report, THE is one of the ranking organizations that selects and relies on Scopus data and metrics extracted from SciVal to create the bibliometric datasets underpinning portions of their ranking methodologies. Why do ranking organizations choose Scopus? Because it offers a multidisciplinary, quantitative and consistent view of each university's research activities and performance, delivering a trustworthy and robust basis for comparison. In the case of THE, Scopus data and metrics extracted from SciVal play an important role in both its World University Rankings and Impact Rankings. For the latter, THE draws upon sophisticated UN SDG mappings developed through Elsevier’s SDG Research Mapping initiative Wird in neuem Tab/Fenster geöffnet to extract data and metrics for each SDG. These enable THE to ensure that the documents evaluated for the Research component of the Impact Rankings are directly related to the SDG in question. Elsevier, through Scopus data and metrics from SciVal, also provides THE with a wealth of supplementary data for these documents, from their 5-year Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and female co-authorship to patent counts and clinical citations.

The same SDG queries used in the THE Impact Rankings are also used in several of Elsevier’s Research Intelligence solutions. Within Scopus, they offer a straightforward and effective way to search and analyze the rich content in the database by SDG, offering intriguing insights into the underlying publications used in the THE Impact rankings. In the case of SciVal, users can access the actual bibliometric datasets and associated metrics to analyze the drivers and gain clarity about the bibliometrics used in rankings. To ensure that these insights remain relevant and robust, we continuously review and update the SDG queries based on feedback from our customers.

How can you achieve a better understanding of bibliometrics with SciVal Rankings Analysis?

In addition to providing access to the bibliometric datasets used in the impact rankings, SciVal also enables you to analyze global research using the same SDG queries through pre-defined Research Areas and a subject classification. This creates an opportunity for universities to:

1. Analyze, understand and generate insights based on the actual bibliometric dataset used in the THE Impact rankings: Through the rankings analysis feature of SciVal, you can analyze, generate insights and benchmark against peers using the actual bibliometric datasets used in major international rankings, including the Impact Rankings. This enhances the strategic value of management-level reports and eliminates the time-consuming need to manually curate data and create your own in-house ranking metric proxies.

2. Gain insight and understanding of your university’s relative performance in each SDG: Using SciVal, you can profile global research and benchmark at the SDG level to gain a deeper understanding of global expertise across all sectors and your university’s position compared to its peers.

Together, these insights from SciVal can help you understand your university's ranking and the reasons behind it. If you're striving to become a leading university in a specific SDG, SciVal can assist you in identifying the SDGs where you excel, the partnership opportunities across sectors that could enhance your capacity, and provide insights to help you develop, implement, and monitor your strategy to achieve that goal.

Find out more about how SciVal can help your institution analyze and understand the bibliometric drivers in rankings.

¹Impact Rankings Methodology 2024 - Version 1.0. Times Higher Education Impact Rankings Wird in neuem Tab/Fenster geöffnet.