Elsevier, a global leader in scientific information and analytics, has announced the renewal of its partnership with Times Higher Education (THE) until 2030. This multi-year collaboration aims to enhance university rankings through data and insights sourced from Elsevier’s renowned platforms, Scopus and SciVal.
THE will continue to utilise the comprehensive bibliometric data from Scopus to underpin its global university rankings portfolio, which includes the flagship World University Rankings, Regional and Subject Rankings, Impact Rankings, and the forthcoming Interdisciplinary Science Rankings. This agreement marks a significant extension of a partnership that originally commenced in 2014.
The World University Rankings focus heavily on the research missions of universities. The methodology, refined over the past two decades in collaboration with leading academic institutions, reflects the attributes that define a world-class university. THE employs a mix of staff surveys, bibliometric data, and institutional metrics to evaluate and rank universities globally.
In addition to the World University Rankings, THE’s Impact Rankings celebrate universities that excel in addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These rankings highlight institutions that demonstrate a commitment to tackling pressing global challenges, including environmental sustainability, social inclusion, economic growth, and strategic partnerships.
Duncan Ross, Chief Data Officer at Times Higher Education, remarked on the significant growth of the rankings, stating, “Times Higher Education has gone from covering 200 universities in our World University Rankings when we started in 2004 to over 2,800 today. This new agreement is very much in line with our shared goal of supporting universities and helping them demonstrate the impact of their work. Elsevier is an ideal partner to work with, and our combined expertise in analytics extends the insights of Scopus and SciVal into a deeper understanding of the research environment.”
Judy Verses, President of Academic & Government at Elsevier, echoed these sentiments, saying, “The Times Higher Education university rankings provide higher education leaders with invaluable insights to guide them when making strategic and investment decisions, and give students vital information to inform their educational choices. THE and Elsevier are aligned in our commitment to help universities demonstrate the transformative impact they have on society.”
Scopus, recognised as the world’s largest abstract and citation database, includes peer-reviewed academic literature from over 7,000 publishers and boasts 2.4 billion citations, along with more than 19.6 million author profiles. Meanwhile, SciVal delivers strategic insights to visualise an institution’s research performance, benchmark it against peers, and identify emerging trends in research.
The extensive data and analytics capabilities provided by Elsevier will enable THE to analyse research activities from a broader array of institutions worldwide, further enhancing the credibility and depth of its rankings.
As the partnership progresses, the focus will remain on leveraging high-quality data to support universities in demonstrating their impact and excellence in the global educational landscape. For more information on our work, digital solutions and content, visit www.elsevier.com.
