The predictability of QS ranking based on Scopus and SciVal data

Abstract

The use of international university rankings is an internationally recognized way of evaluating higher education systems and institutions. The QS ranking is one of the best-known among them, and it ranks institutions along six indicators. This study has two objectives. We first examine how the QS ranking and the university rankings derived from the variables obtained from the Scopus/SciVal database by the TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) ranking procedure relate to each other. We find that the QS ranking and the ranking obtained with the Scopus/SciVal data show strong similarity. The second goal was to test the place of the countries on the ranking. A comparison of universities from countries on the QS ranking led to the conclusion that the top-ten ranked countries were mainly smaller Western European countries as well as two city-states from the Far East. Our analysis can be considered somewhat unique as the method for calculating the data determining the QS rankings is not always available on the QS website, so the ranking cannot be repeated. In addition, the ranking results are only available once a year, so only the results of the most recent QS measurement are available between the two dates.