Rockefeller leads global ranking of scientific impact

A ranking of universities that measures the impact of their research publications has placed The Rockefeller University in the number one spot. The results of the 2017 CWTS Leiden Ranking, announced May 17, show that Rockefeller has the highest percentage of frequently cited scientific publications among more than 900 major institutions worldwide. Conducted by the Center for Science and Technology Studies of Leiden University in The Netherlands, the ranking is based on publications indexed in the Web of Science database between 2012 and 2015.

For the second straight year, Rockefeller is placed above MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton, which take the next four spots in the ranking. Out of Rockefeller’s total publications in the three-year period studied, 5.6 percent were considered extremely high impact—in the top one percent of those most widely cited—and 31.2 percent were considered high impact—in the top 10 percent of those most cited. The figures for the other institutions in the top five range from 3.1 to 4.2 percent and 22 to 25 percent, respectively.

In the field of biomedical and health sciences, Rockefeller is second only to MIT, with 5.9 percent versus MIT’s 6 percent of publications falling within the top one percent of those most widely cited.

The Leiden Ranking evaluates universities on the impact of research conducted by their scientists and their involvement in scientific collaboration. It focuses strictly on citation impact, using a methodology that accounts for differences between scientific fields in citation and collaboration practices. The Web of Science database is produced by Clarivate Analytics.

Rockefeller first appeared in the Leiden ranking in 2014, when it also took the top spot.