A Study of the Relation between Byline Positions of Affiliated/Non-Affiliated Authors and the Scientific Impact of European Universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Abstract

Universities have undergone a profound transformation to increase their competitiveness and research performance; evaluating their research output and scientific impact is therefore of great importance. This article aims to suggest an approach to analyze how the JIF quartile share of research articles differs among European universities in medical science, and how the byline positions of affiliated and non-affiliated authors can influence an article’s scientific impact. We examined the research output of universities in the Top 5 European and Visegrad Group Countries based on the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking 2022 (University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, Karolinska Institute, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, KU Leuven, Semmelweis University, Jagiellonian University, Charles University Prague, and Comenius University Bratislava). We found that the share of Q1 and the less prestigious Q3 and Q4 papers are inversely proportional when plotted against the ranks of universities. Whilst the proportion of Q1 papers is higher for the Top 5 universities, this ratio decreases with a less prominent place in the ranking. The presence of non-affiliated authors in the first, last, and corresponding author byline positions has a significantly positive effect on the Category Normalized Citation Impact, correlating with the position of the university in the ranking. Moreover, the difference in the Category Normalized Citation Impact between papers with affiliated and non-affiliated authors is also specific to university rank.

University Rankings: Proposal for a Future Research Agenda through a Systematic Literature Review

“…A survey carried out at universities in the five central European countries and the Visegrad Group countries, using the 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings as a basis, offers an analysis of how participation in the Impact Factor quartile (Journal Impact Factor-JIF) of research articles varies between European universities in medical sciences. [48] Presents a reflection on the limitations and biases of global university rankings. The author argues that these rankings are having a corrosive effect on higher education systems, institutions, and personnel, encouraging policy reforms at the governmental level and re-allocating resources at the institutional level.…”

“…The articles that focused research specifically on a single country were Russia [7,24,52], China [2,4,14,22,53,54], Canada [8], India [30,32], Japan [26], Thailand [27], Indonesia [29], the United States [25], Yemen [17], Taiwan [6], and Armenia [3]. Some studies focus on two or more specific countries: Denmark and India [19]; Belgium and Italy [23]; Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden [21]; Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea [50]; the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Belgium; and Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia [48]. The articles that focused research specifically on a single country were Russia [7,24,52], China [2,4,14,22,53,54], Canada [8], India [30,32], Japan [26], Thailand [27], Indonesia [29], the United States [25], Yemen [17], Taiwan [6], and Armenia [3].…”

“…[26] Times Higher Education (THE). [3,23,31,48,57] Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE).…”

“…[47] Position of universities in the ranking of THE and scientific impact. [48] Relationship between obtaining the Nobel Prize, celebritisation, and media coverage in higher education and how these factors impact university rankings and educational policies. [35] Relationship between global university rankings and performance-based financing models adopted by governments.…”

“…Among the aspects that stand out in Table 3, the strategic issue that studies related to university rankings help to make stand out [1,8,17,53] is a concern relating to educational policies [15,19,50]. The relationship made regarding internationalization is observed [7,9,10,22,54]; the quality aspect is highlighted [11,46]; reputation is also the focus of studies [32,34,44,56]; the position aspect of the ranking is studied by researchers [4,45,47,48]; an analysis of students' perceptions and experiences is highlighted [25,26,29,52]; and other research addresses the relationship between university rankings [2,3,30,55].…”