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University Rankings: Quality, Size and Permanence

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bejan, A; Gunes, U; Sahin, B
Published in: European Review
August 1, 2020

Why are the rankings of universities not changing? Why is the demographic composition of top universities the same? In this review, these questions are addressed based on physics. Although size matters, higher ranks do not correlate with bigger sizes. The higher ranks belong to universities that have more authors who receive more citations. Citations are a record of how ideas spread from the source to the whole globe, in accordance with the physics of the logistics S-curve phenomenon. The spreading occurs in three periods-slow, fast, slow-and the population served by each idea during its lifetime depends on the size of the first big channel that carries the idea. An idea from a famous university has a larger spreading territory around it than an idea from a lesser-known university. Creativity is key: rankings come from visibility through citations, and, in turn, visibility for an author is aided by the higher visibility of the university. The demographic composition of the top universities is the same: for instance, the percentage of female authors and authors of East Asian origin among the 200 most cited authors does not vary significantly over the 20 highest ranked universities.

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Published In

European Review

DOI

EISSN

1474-0575

ISSN

1062-7987

Publication Date

August 1, 2020

Volume

28

Issue

4

Start / End Page

537 / 558

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
 

Citation

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Bejan, A., Gunes, U., & Sahin, B. (2020). University Rankings: Quality, Size and Permanence. European Review, 28(4), 537–558. https://doi.org/10.1017/S106279872000006X
Bejan, A., U. Gunes, and B. Sahin. “University Rankings: Quality, Size and Permanence.” European Review 28, no. 4 (August 1, 2020): 537–58. https://doi.org/10.1017/S106279872000006X.
Bejan A, Gunes U, Sahin B. University Rankings: Quality, Size and Permanence. European Review. 2020 Aug 1;28(4):537–58.
Bejan, A., et al. “University Rankings: Quality, Size and Permanence.” European Review, vol. 28, no. 4, Aug. 2020, pp. 537–58. Scopus, doi:10.1017/S106279872000006X.
Bejan A, Gunes U, Sahin B. University Rankings: Quality, Size and Permanence. European Review. 2020 Aug 1;28(4):537–558.
Journal cover image

Published In

European Review

DOI

EISSN

1474-0575

ISSN

1062-7987

Publication Date

August 1, 2020

Volume

28

Issue

4

Start / End Page

537 / 558

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences