What is the Shanghai Ranking?

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the three most influential annual global university rankings. It is considered, alongside other global rankings such as the (QS) World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings, as a key benchmark for academic institutions worldwide. However, the Shanghai Ranking is regarded as the most objective and transparent due to its methodology.

The Shanghai list is an annual ranking of the top 1,000 universities worldwide, based on four main indicators and criteria:

• First Indicator: Quality of education and the courses offered, and the number of the institution’s graduates who have won Nobel Prizes or received medals or honors. (10%)
• Second Indicator: Quality of faculty and teaching staff, and the number of distinguished researchers, as identified by Clarivate Analytics, whose research is considered fundamental references for others. (20%)
• Third Indicator: Scientific research and recognized papers published in peer-reviewed journals during the last five years, conducted in the university’s laboratories by its researchers and professors, and the number of articles indexed in the Science Citation Index. This includes the Expanded Citation Index and the Social Science Citation Index. (40%)
• Fourth Indicator: The size of the university’s spending on scientific research and the per capita academic performance, which serves as a measure of the overall intellectual and academic development of the university and per student. (10%)

The credibility of the Shanghai Ranking is strengthened by its reliance on data that is easily accessible online, which enhances transparency. Additionally, the ranking is independent and has no commercial objectives.

For the comprehensive evaluation of universities based on these indicators, Shanghai Consulting engages around 3,500 professors from the world’s top 100 universities across various disciplines, many of whom are department heads, deans, or hold senior administrative positions.

The organization began its activities in 2003 and has been the official publisher of the Academic Ranking of World Universities annually since 2009, releasing the ranking every August. It is worth noting that this academic ranking is the most widely trusted among global rankings.

In 2024, 29 Arab universities were included in the Shanghai Ranking (the number varies annually). Among the most prominent are:

• Saudi Arabia: King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
• Egypt: Cairo University, Ain Shams University, Alexandria University, Mansoura University, Al-Azhar University.
• UAE: Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates University.
• Qatar: Qatar University.
• Jordan: The University of Jordan.
• Oman: Sultan Qaboos University.
• Lebanon: The American University of Beirut.