THE World University Rankings by Subject employs the same range of 13 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings brought together with scores provided under five categories. It covers 48 subjects grouped into 11 broad subject areas: Arts & Humanities, Business & Economics, Clinical, Pre-cilinical & Health, Computer Science, Education, Engineering & Technology, Law, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences. 

Two criteria determine eligibility for the THE subject rankings: a publication threshold and an academic staff threshold. They are set differently for each of the 11 broad ranking subjects. With regards to staff eligibility criterion, an institution needs to have either a minimum proportion of its staff or a minimum number of staff in the discipline to be included in the subject ranking. The threshold depends on the broad subject. 

The subject tables use the same performance indicators as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023, but the methodology has been recalibrated to suit the individual fields. The performance indicators are:

TEACHING (the learning environment), including: Reputation survey, Staff-to-student ratio, Doctorate-to-bachelor’s ratio, Doctorates-awarded-to-academic-staff ratio, Institutional income

RESEARCH (volume, income and reputation), including: Reputation survey, Research income, Research productivity

CITATIONS (research influence)

INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK (staff, students and research), including: International-to-domestic-student ratio, International-to-domestic-staff ratio, International collaboration 

INDUSTRY INCOME (innovation)