Citation Records Reveal Top U.K. Universities in 21 Fields

Editor's Note: In its continuing examination of university research outside the United States, the newsletter Science Watch recently presented its first analysis of institutions in the United Kingdom. This article from the January/February 1997 issue of Science Watch (8[1]:1, 1997) ranks U.K. universities by the total number of citations of their papers published in 21 fields between 1991 and 1995 and analyzes the citation impact (citations per paper) of these articles. Both analyses are based on data from the Philadelphia-based Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)'s United Kingdom University Indicators on Diskette, 1981-95. The Science Watch article analyzing the rankings is reprinted here with the permission of the newsletter and ISI, its publisher. For more information on the citation databases and information discussed in the article, contact Christopher King, editor of Science Watch, ISI, 3501 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104; (800) 523-1850, Ext. 1341. Fax: (215) 387-1266. E-mail: cking@isinet.com. Previously, Science Watch has assessed university research in Canada (Science Watch, 6[10]:1-2, November/December 1995) and Australia (Science Watch, 7[4]:1-2, July/August 1996). This time, the focus is on universities in the United Kingdom. This study, like its predecessors, examines research over the last five years according to two measures: impact (the average number of citations per paper) and total citations. The three highest-scoring universities by impact in each of 21 fields are listed in the table to the right. The table below features the top three finishers in the same fields, ranked according to total citations. The rankings are based on the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)'s recently released United Kingdom University Indicators on Diskette, 1981-95, a database containing publication and citation statistics on more than 100 U.K. universities. For the study, Science Watch confined its examination to papers published and cited between 1991 and 1995 in ISI-indexed journals. The United Kingdom's two long-standing powerhouses, Cambridge and Oxford, clearly dominate the total-citations rankings. This is not unexpected, given that this measure, revealing gross influence, typically favors large institutions that produce a high volume of papers. In total citations, Cambridge ranked first in seven of the 13 fields in which it appears. Oxford made only six firsts but bested Cambridge in overall appearances, showing up in 17 of the 21. The Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine did not place first in any of the total-citations rankings but did manage seven appearances in the top three spots. And King's College, London, collected enough citations in pharmacology and psychology/psychiatry to take first slots in those fields, as well as third in both neuroscience and clinical medicine. The mention of Imperial College and King's College, London, raises a significant procedural point: Two of the United Kingdom's largest university systems-the University of London and the University of Wales-were not treated as single entities in this survey but were considered in terms of their component institutions. For the University of London, these institutions include Queen Mary and Westfield College and University College, London. Although "Oxbridge," the collective term by which Oxford and Cambridge are referred to, showed its aggregate and expected clout in the total-citations table, more striking results appear in the citation-impact rankings. As Science Watch has often observed, assessing research on the basis of citations per paper allows smaller institutions to be compared more equitably against the great in size and reputation. Certainly, Oxford and Cambridge make a decent showing, with Oxford grabbing the top spot in four fields and appearing in more than half the rankings overall. But other universities take their place at high table in selected fields. The University of Glasgow, for example, produced the highest citations-per-paper score in engineering, in keeping with Scotland's long tradition of excellence in the field. Glasgow also came first in physics. Another Scottish institution, the University of Dundee, grabbed top honors in the categories of biology and biochemistry and molecular biology, while the University of Edinburgh led in microbiology. The University of Sussex showed strength in chemistry, capturing second place, and in physics, ranking third. Sussex was also second in economics and business. The University of East Anglia took second in plant and animal sciences and microbiology, also ending up third in agricultural sciences and geosciences. At the top of the geosciences list was the Open University. The University of Durham was tops in astrophysics and mathematics (and third in chemistry), while the Imperial College registered the highest impact in pharmacology and clinical medicine. The clinical-medicine rankings merit some explanation. In tracking research in this field, the United Kingdom University Indicators database covers not only the universities themselves, but also their affiliated medical schools and hospitals. Therefore, in assessing clinical medicine research at Imperial College, Science Watch also considered papers from Imperial College School of Medicine at St. Mary's Hospital. Oxford's roster of affiliated medical units includes Radcliffe Infirmary, the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital, and Warneford Hospital. The University College, London's affiliated teaching hospitals include University College Hospital, Middlesex Hospital, Whittington Hospital, and Mount Vernon Hospital. As in the citation-impact tables in the previous university surveys, Science Watch set minimum thresholds of the number of papers produced, which varies from field to field, for consideration in this analysis. In some instances, universities with high impact scores were omitted because they did not produce enough papers to meet the field's threshold. In engineering, for example, the University of Plymouth averaged 3.88 citations per paper-high enough for first place. However, Plymouth's total of 165 engineering papers during the five-year period fell below the threshold of 200 set for the field. In neuroscience, the University of Birmingham's 9.61 citations per paper would have topped the ranking, but Birmingham fell short of the 300-paper threshold with a total of 252. In each field, Science Watch evaluated overall output figures and endeavored to set a reasonable threshold. It should also be noted that these rankings do not purport to reflect the performance of individual departments. Science Watch is not evaluating departments but instead is examining published papers in given fields. The fields are defined by groupings of specialty journals. In this study, as in the previous university surveys, papers appearing in Science and Nature were selectively assigned to the appropriate field. For the purposes of determining output of papers and citation counts, a paper listing at least one author from a given university was credited to that university. Top Three United Kingdom Universities in 21 Fields Ranked by Citation Impact, 1991-95 FIELD123 Physics University of Glasgow (6.85) University of Lancaster (6.77) University of Sussex (5.87) Chemistry University of Cambridge(6.35) University of Sussex (6.17) University of Durham (4.97) Materials Science University of Hull (3.90) Queen Mary & Westfield College (2.94) University of Cambridge (2.86) Engineering University of Glasgow (2.90) University of Oxford (2.61) University of Southampton (2.52) Geosciences Open University (5.21) University of Oxford (4.83) University of East Anglia (4.74) Astrophysics University of Durham (11.43) University of Oxford (10.09) University of Leicester (9.20) Computer Science City University of London (1.86) UMIST (1.67) University of Warwick (1.50) Mathematics University of Durham (3.38) University of Bristol (3.21) Imperial College (2.54) Ecology/Environmental University of Oxford (3.84) Imperial College (3.70) University of Lancaster (3.53) Agricultural Sciences University of Strathclyde (2.64) University of Aberdeen (2.58) University of East Anglia (2.45) Plant & Animal Sciences University of Leicester (6.76) University of East Anglla (5.68) University of Lancaster (4.49) Clinical Medicine Imperial College (6.71) University of Oxford (5.87) University College, London (5.30) Immunology University of Oxford (12.77) University of Birmingham (11.88) Imperial College (9.43) Microbiology University of Edinburgh (8.49) University of East Anglia (7.46) University of Cambridge (7.13) Biology & Biochemistry University of Dundee (10.01) University of Oxford (8.05) University College, London (7.40) Molecular Biology University of Dundee (17.74) University of Oxford (15.17) University of Cambridge (13.41) Neuroscience University of Oxford (7.91) University College, London (7.86) University of Cambridge (7.10) Pharmacology Imperial College (8.34) University of Cambridge (7.73) Queen Mary & Westfield College (6.83) Psychology/Psychiatry University of Oxford (4.59) King's College, London (4.19) University of Cambridge (3.89) Education University of York (2.18) University of Edinburgh (1.71) University of Sheffield (1.51) Economics & Business University College, London (2.16) University of Sussex (2.15) University of Oxford (1.95) Source: ISI's United Kingdom Universities Indicators on Diskette, 1981-95 Top Three United Kingdom Universities in 21 Fields Ranked by Total Citations, 1991-95 FIELD123 Physics University of Cambridge (14,801) University of Oxford (10,567) Imperial College (7,877) Chemistry University of Cambridge (13,881) University of Oxford (7,908) Imperial College (4,813) Materials Science University of Cambridge (1,753) University of Oxford (973) Imperial College (846) Engineering University of Cambridge (2,357) University of Oxford (2,088) Imperial College (2,008) Geosciences University of Cambridge (2,993) University of Oxford (2,292) University of Edinburgh (1,558) Astrophysics University of Cambridge (8,669) University of Oxford (3,875) University of Leicester (2,392) Computer Science University of Edinburgh (154) Imperial College (98) University of York (93) Mathematics University of Cambridge (794) University of Oxford (634) Imperial College (467) Ecology/Environmental University of Oxford (1,314) Imperial College (1,299) University of Lancaster (864) Agricultural Sciences University of Reading (847) University of East Anglia (617) University of Aberdeen (588) Plant & Animal Sciences University of East Anglia (3,570) University of Oxford (2,212) University of Bristol (2,209) Clinical Medicine University College, London (20,195) University of Oxford (19,040) King's College, London (12,897) Immunology University of Oxford (7,524) University College, London (3,590) University of Cambridge (3,188) Microbiology University of Oxford (3,594) University of Cambridge (2,554) University of East Anglia (2,157) Biology & Biochemistry University of Oxford (20,088) University College, London (14,530) University of Cambridge (13,746) Molecular Biology University of Oxford (19,924) University of Cambridge (14,269) University College, London (13,834) Neuroscience University College, London (10,635) University of Oxford (8,376) King's College, London (6,499) Pharmacology King's College, London (2,440) University College, London (2,251) University of Cambridge (1,986) Psychology/Psychiatry King's College, London (3,546) University of Oxford (1,926) University College, London (1,396) Education University of Sheffield (77) University of York (72) University of Edinburgh (60) Economics & Business University of Oxford (590) University of Warwick (424) University of Cambridge (252) Source: ISI's United Kingdom Universities Indicators on Diskette, 1981-95

Citation Records Reveal Top U.K. Universities in 21 Fields

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