The University of Queensland’s global scientific research impact is evident in the latest Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) Leiden Ranking.
During 2012-2015, UQ contributed 11,258 publications in recognised journals; with 1443 in the top 10 percent of cited publications, which placed UQ 38th globally up 5 places from last year’s ranking.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research Professor Robyn Ward said the latest Leiden Ranking strengthened UQ’s global reputation and were a result of the University’s focus on research excellence.
“Unlike other global rankings, which often rely on subjective data, the Leiden rankings present a measure of an institution’s contemporary research impact and collaboration through analysis of recent research publications,” Professor Ward said.
“UQ’s strong results indicate that our researchers are publishing quality research which attracts high citation rates.”
UQ ranked highly in the area of overall scientific impact, and was Australia’s top-ranked university in the research categories of life and earth sciences, and social sciences and humanities as measured by publications in the top 10% cited globally.
The University’s life and earth sciences ranking jumped to 11th globally, with 2253 publications in recognised journals, including 326 papers in the top 10 percent of most frequently cited.
UQ’s social sciences and humanities leapt eight places – from 38 in 2016 to 30 this year – with 1570 publications in recognised journals, including 182 in the top 10 percent.
“Results such as this are impressive and highlight why Australia needs well-resourced universities so that the broader benefits of world-class quality research flow to society and the economy,” Professor Ward said.
The 2017 CWTS Leiden Rankings are based on Web of Science indexed publications. This Ranking system differs from others in that it separately reports scientific impact and collaboration rather than aggregating many dimensions of university performance into a single rank. The CWTS Leiden Rankings thus provides a more detailed perspective on university research performance.
The rankings offer insights into the scientific performance of 902 universities worldwide. They employ a sophisticated set of bibliometric indicators that provide significant statistics on the scientific impact of universities and on universities’ involvement in scientific collaboration.
Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3364 1120.