General information on ranking

Name of the ranking QS World University Rankings by Subject
Geographical scope Global
Name of person in charge of ranking Ben Sowter
E-mail of person in charge of ranking ben@qs.com
Website of the ranking https://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings
Publication frequency annual
First year of publication 2011
Most recent year of publication 2024
Date of last update 2024-05-05
Ranking organization Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd (QS)
Website of the methodology www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings/methodology
Methodology

The QS World University Rankings by Subject ranks the world’s top universities in individual subject areas, covering 55 subjects in 5 broad areas: Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicinie, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences & Management.  Each of the subject rankings is compiled using five components which are combined to produce the results for each of the subject rankings, with weightings adapted for each discipline.

ACADEMIC REPUTATION 

Drawing on responses from academics, this indicator demonstrates which universities other academics consider to be excellent for research in the given area. The results of the survey are then filtered according to the narrow area of expertise identified by respondents. 

EMPLOYER REPUTATION

The employer reputation indicator draws from the survey responses of graduate employers worldwide. Employers are asked to identify institutions they consider excellent for the recruitment of graduates. They are also asked to identify the disciplines from which they prefer to recruit.  

RESEARCH CITATIONS PER PAPER 

QS World University Rankings by Subject measures citations per paper, rather than citations per faculty member. This is due to the impracticality of reliably gathering faculty numbers broken down by discipline for each institution. All citations data is sourced from Elsevier Scopus. A minimum publication threshold is set for each subject to avoid potential anomalies stemming from small numbers of highly cited papers. Both the minimum publications threshold and the weighting applied to the citations indicator are adapted in order to best reflect prevalent publication and citation patterns in a given discipline. 

H-INDEX 

The H-index is a way of measuring both the productivity and impact of an academic or department at a university. The index is based on the set of the academic’s most cited papers and the number of citations they have received in other publications.  

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH NETWORK (BY BROAD FACULTY AREA)   

The IRN Index reflects the ability of institutions to diversify the geography of their international research network by establishing sustainable research partnerships with other higher education institutions.  

Additional information

  • Type of publication: internet, print - special publication
  • Internet users access to ranking: open access
  • Language of publication: English
  • Main target groups: employers, higher education institutions, policymakers, governments and funding agencies, students and parents
  • Level of comparison: broad areas: 5, subjects/disciplines: 55
  • Major dimensions covered: employability, reputation, research, teaching
  • Structure of presentation: ordinary presentation (league tables)
  • Data sources: data collected from HEIs by ranking organization, survey conducted exclusively by ranking organization, third-party database (data not provided by HEI)
  • Quality assurance of ranking: advisory board
  • Website of the ranking organization: http://www.topuniversities.com/about-qs
  • Types of the ranking organization: commercial/for-profit (incl. media)
  • Types of rankings: global-subjects