Comparative Analysis of Research Performance of Kerman University of Medical Sciences and Selected Universities

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in Medical Library and Information Science, Student Research Committee, Faculty of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Medical Library and Information Sciences Department, School of Management and Information Science, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Abstract

Purpose: In recent years, university ranking systems have garnered the attention of numerous students, researchers, universities, and research policy makers. In addition, such systems affect the budget allocation of universities. The presence of a large number of Iranian universities in global ranking systems demonstrates the credibility of these institutions and underscores the importance of these ranking systems. Times Higher Education (THE) is one of the leading ranking systems that is considered by Iranian universities. This study aims to compare the performance of Kerman University of Medical Sciences with selected universities in THE rankings. Additionally, it aims to explore the relationship between universities' research performance and their position in the THE ranking system. The findings of this research can provide valuable information for policymakers in higher education.
Methodology: This study employed an applied research approach with an analytical focus. The method used in this study was comparative, and the data collection tool was a checklist that includes research indicators from the THE ranking system and bibliometric data extracted from the SciVal database between 2016 and 2020. Research indicators included the "research score" and "citation score" of universities in THE, while bibliometrics data included metrics such as "scholarly output", "citation count", "citation per paper", "% of cited publications", and "publications in top 25% journal percentiles" as measured by "CiteScore Percentile", "SNIP Percentile", and "SJR Percentile". The research population included 34 universities, comprising of 15 Iranian medical universities ranked in the THE ranking system 2022, and 19 foreign universities with the same ranking as Kerman University of Medical Sciences. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS Statistics software. Spearman's correlation test was used to compare the research performance of universities and their overall rank and citation score in the THE ranking system. The independent t-test was used to compare the five criteria of the THE ranking system between Iranian and foreign universities.
Findings: Kerman University of Medical Sciences has been ranked 601-800 in the 2022 edition of the THE ranking system, which indicates an improvement compared to its previous ranking in the 2021 edition (801-1000). Overall, the research indicators of Kerman University of Medical Sciences were relatively good. Although this university has been ranked 12th and last in the research score (with a score of 10.1) among domestic and foreign universities, achieving the 6th and 5th rank in citation criteria among domestic and foreign universities respectively shows the effectiveness of the outputs of this university. Independent t-tests revealed statistically significant differences between the research scores, educational scores, and international reputations of domestic and foreign universities. There was a positive relationship between the "citation per paper" and the rank of universities, as well as between the "number of documents," "total number of citations," and "citation per paper" with the research score. But there was no linear relationship between the indicators of the "number of documents" of the universities and their ranking in THE. According to the findings, universities that have published more documents will not necessarily have a higher rank in the THE ranking system. Moreover, the Mann-Whitney test shows that there was no statistically significant difference between domestic and foreign universities in citation score (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Kerman University of Sciences should pay more attention to publishing international papers indexed in Scopus. This university is currently ranked only in the THE ranking system. However, based on the suggestions of the present study, it has the potential to achieve a better position through more coherent planning. This university can also participate in other ranking systems, such as the Leiden and Shanghai rankings. In general, improving the overall ranking of a university can be achieved through various methods. These include ensuring transparency in the data provided to ranking systems, publishing in reputable databases such as Scopus, attracting international faculty members and students, and focusing on trending research topics. Besides, universities should pay attention to criteria other than research indicators, such as the effectiveness of their scientific outputs and citations per paper.

Keywords

References

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