@unifreiburg@xn--baw-joa.social avatar unifreiburg , to random German

World University by Subject 2026“: zählt in fünf Fächergruppen zu den zehn besten deutschen Universitäten und in den Fächern und international zu den Top 100.

➡️ https://ufr.link/the-subjects-2026

National erzielt die Universität Freiburg fünf Top-Ten-Platzierungen. Foto: Sandra Meyndt / Universität Freiburg
ALT
@h4ckernews@mastodon.social avatar h4ckernews Bot , to random
@petersuber@fediscience.org avatar petersuber , to AcademicChatter group

What's going on when some jump more than 950% in one year on used in university ? Are they gaming the metrics?
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.09.653229v1

"Key findings include publication growth of up to 965%, concentrated in STEM fields; surges in hyper-prolific authors and highly cited articles; and dense internal co-authorship and citation clusters. The group [of studied institutions] also exhibited elevated shares of publications in delisted journals and high retraction rates. These patterns illustrate vulnerabilities in global ranking systems, as metrics lose meaning when treated as targets (Goodhart’s Law) and institutions emulate high-performing peers under competitive pressure (institutional isomorphism). Without reform, rankings may continue incentivizing behaviors that distort scholarly contribution and compromise research integrity."


academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group

@dnc@vive.im avatar dnc , to News
@tu_muenchen@wisskomm.social avatar tu_muenchen , to random German

The latest Times Higher Education World by Subject list us among the world’s top 25 universities in , and : http://go.tum.de/804675 🥳

📷A.Eckert

@petersuber@fediscience.org avatar petersuber , to random

Finally, an end to the scheme in which "foreign researchers were being paid up to €70,000 (nearly $74,000) a year to lie about their place of employment, in order to artificially pump up institutions in international academic ."
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2024-12-05/dozens-of-the-worlds-most-cited-scientists-stop-falsely-claiming-to-work-in-saudi-arabia.html

Now what will happen to the professors who profited by lending their weight to this scheme?

@petersuber@fediscience.org avatar petersuber , to AcademicChatter group

New study: "Many academics in the discipline of working at universities are expected to comply with institutional policies…which use various journal as a proxy for . This is in spite of the fact that extensive research demonstrates that such rankings are problematic when used to evaluate individual researchers, particularly in the ."
https://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2024/06/30/the-impact-of-journal-ranking-systems-on-the-discipline-of-english-in-australia/


academicchatter@a.gup.pe icon AcademicChatter group

@petersuber@fediscience.org avatar petersuber , to AcademicChatter group

From a new review of the literature on : "The general academic consensus is that rankings cannot be used in research ."
https://direct.mit.edu/qss/article/doi/10.1162/qss_a_00317/123261/University-Rankings-in-the-Context-of-Research


@academicchatter

@petersuber@fediscience.org avatar petersuber , to AcademicChatter group