Iranian universities advance in world’s highly cited institutes

TEHRAN - The number of top Iranian universities and research institutes in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database has increased from 112 last years (March 2022-March 2023) to 115 this year, the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) has reported.

Essential Science Indicators, or ESI, is a fundamental analysis and evaluation tool that reveals emerging science trends, as well as the performance of influential individuals, academic institutions, papers, journals, countries, and regions in various fields of scientific research.

According to the latest bi-monthly edition of the ESI database, the number of the world's top universities and research institutes in all subject areas is 8,557, of which 115 universities and research institutes from the Islamic Republic of Iran are on this list.

The number of top Iranian universities and research institutes in this database has increased from 112 last years to 115 this year.

Iran's top universities and research institutes are present in 19 subject areas, and the largest number is in the engineering subject area with 59 universities and research institutes.

The number of institutions in the fields of clinical medicine was 57, chemistry 50, material sciences 25, agricultural sciences 23, pharmacology and toxicology 19, plant and animal sciences 16, environment/ecology 15, social sciences, biology and biochemistry, and computer sciences 13 each.

Meanwhile, the number of institutions in the fields of neuroscience and behavior was 7, geology 6, physics and immunology 5 each, molecular biology and genetics 4, mathematics and microbiology 2 each, and psychiatry/psychology 1.

With 136 universities and research institutes, Turkey ranks 13th in the world and Iran ranks 14th in the world. After Iran and among Islamic countries, Saudi Arabia ranks 23rd in the world with 41 universities and research institutes, and Egypt ranks 24th in the world with 39 universities and research institutes. Pakistan ranks 25th in the world with 37 universities and research institutes.

ISC is the third internationally accredited citation center established in Iran based on a resolution adopted in 2008 by the 4th Meeting of the Islamic Ministers of Higher Education (ICMHESR) in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to index, evaluate and publish scientific productions in Islamic countries.

In “ISC world university rankings by subject” includes 4 major criteria of Education, Research, International Activity, and Innovation.

Reviewing the status of universities worldwide shows that the number of Iranian universities has increased in nearly all subject rankings.

At the beginning of its formation, rating systems provided a comprehensive view of institutions and evaluated them from all aspects and as a whole. But in the past few years, many of these systems evaluate and rank institutions in various scientific fields.

This new ranking method has emerged to meet the needs of users who seek to know the position of an institution in a special field.

Some of these systems evaluate broad scientific fields such as humanities and social sciences, technical and engineering, and medicine, and others measure special fields such as chemistry, mathematics, artificial intelligence, anthropology, and nursing in institutions.

Times Higher Education

In the 2023 ranking of the Times Higher Education Institute, which was published in 2022, the names of 66 Iranian institutions were included in the list of the world's top institutions in 10 different scientific fields, and in total, the names of these institutions were repeated 167 times in scientific fields.

These 10 scientific fields include "arts and humanities", "business and economics", "clinical medical sciences, basic medicine and health", "computer sciences", "educational sciences", "biological sciences", "physical sciences", "engineering and technology", "law and psychology" and "social sciences".

Academic Ranking of World Universities

The ranking system of universities based on their academic performance is known as Shanghai. In its latest edition (the year 2022), this ranking system has evaluated and ranked world institutions in various scientific fields.

In this list, there are 34 Iranian institutions, whose names appear in the list of top institutions 143 times in various scientific fields.

The Shanghai ranking of institutions covers 54 scientific fields, including 8 fields in natural sciences, 4 fields in biological sciences, 22 fields in engineering, 6 fields in medical sciences, and 14 fields in social sciences.

QS World domain rankings

Based on the 2023 edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking, seven Iranian institutions have been included in the list of more than 500 top institutions in different scientific fields. The names of these institutions have been repeated 10 times in various scientific fields.

The QS ranking system evaluates the world’s leading institutions in 5 fields arts and humanities, engineering and technology, life sciences and medicine, and social sciences and management.

The evaluation indices of this ranking system are 5 indices of the international research network, the H index of citations, per capita citations to publications, academic reputation, and occupational reputation.

QS World subject rankings

Based on the 2023 edition of the QS World subject ranking, 16 top Iranian institutions have been placed in various scientific fields and the names of these institutions have been repeated 79 times in the list of top institutions in various scientific fields.

The ranking system evaluates the world's leading institutions in 51 scientific fields, from history and linguistics to astronomy and navigation.

University Ranking by Academic Performance

According to the annual report of the University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) in 2022, 41 Iranian institutions have been included in the list of top institutions in scientific fields and their names have been repeated 636 times in this list.

Based on this ranking, the number of repeated names of Iranian institutions in various scientific fields has increased greatly compared to last year.

This ranking system evaluates the institutions of the world in 78 scientific fields and is based on 6 quantitative indicators "number of articles", "references", "publications", "global cooperation", "research impact" and "citation impact".

Courtesy  of Tehran Times.