The CWTS Leiden University Ranking for 2020 has been published by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands. The Leiden Ranking is based on bibliographic data from the Web of Science database by Clarivate Analytics. It provides a rating that is based on the absolute number of top-cited publications (which is size-dependent), as well as a size-independent list, where the performance of a university’s publications is measured relative to its publication output. The 2020 list includes 1,176 universities in 65 different countries.
Just like last year, the top 20 consists mostly of institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom, in addition to one Canadian and one Chinese university. The three highest-ranked universities overall (based on the absolute number of publications that belong to the top 1 % most cited) are Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), all USA. This top three has remained the same for the last six years. The top institution in a non-English-speaking country is Tsinghua University, China, at rank 14, up from rank 17 last year. The highest-ranked European institution is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich at rank 24, up from 25th place last year.
In the size-independent ranking (based on the proportion of publications that belong to the top 1 % most cited and a minimum output of 100 papers), Rockefeller University, USA, is ranked first, followed by MIT and the Shandong University of Science and Technology, China. The highest-ranked European institution in this category is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) Lausanne at 13th place.
In the physical sciences, which include chemistry and related disciplines, the top rank in the size-dependent rating is held by MIT. In the size-independent ranking, Harvard University placed first in these fields. Both of these leading institutions have remained the same as last year.
Size-Dependent Ranking (All Sciences)
(by the number of the university’s publications belonging to the top 1 % most frequently cited)
Size-Independent Ranking (All Sciences)
(by proportion of the university’s publications belonging to the top 1 % most frequently cited)
Size-Dependent Ranking (Physical Sciences and Engineering)
(by the number of the university’s publications belonging to the top 1 % most frequently cited)
Size-Independent Ranking (Physical Sciences and Engineering)
(by proportion of the university’s publications belonging to the top 1 % most frequently cited)
Methodology
The CWTS Leiden Ranking is based on bibliographic data covering the years 2015–2018 from the Web of Science database produced by Clarivate Analytics. Book publications, publications in conference proceedings, publications in journals not indexed in Web of Science, and publications in other languages than English are not included.
The ranking offers the following indicators of the scientific impact of a university:
- P
The total number of publications of a university - P(top 1 %) and PP(top 1 %)
The number and the proportion of a university’s publications that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, belong to the top 1% most frequently cited - P(top 5 %) and PP(top 5 %)
The number and the proportion of a university’s publications that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, belong to the top 5% most frequently cited - P(top 10 %) and PP(top 10 %)
The number and the proportion of a university’s publications that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, belong to the top 10% most frequently cited - P(top 50 %) and PP(top 50 %)
The number and the proportion of a university’s publications that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, belong to the top 50% most frequently cited - TCS and MCS
The total and the average number of citations of the publications of a university - TNCS and MNCS
The total and the average number of citations of the publications of a university, normalized for field and publication year. An MNCS value of two, for instance, means that the publications of a university have been cited twice above the average of their field and publication year
The ranking also includes indicators for collaboration, open access publishing, and gender diversity. It provides statistics for the following five fields of science:
- Biomedical and health sciences
- Life and earth sciences
- Mathematics and computer science
- Physical sciences and engineering
- Social sciences and humanities
- CWTS Leiden Ranking 2020,
Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Also of Interest
- CWTS Leiden Ranking 2019,
ChemistryViews.org 2019.
Assessing the scientific performance of over 900 universities based on bibliometric indicators
