University of Coimbra rises in the CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition 2024
Ranking advocates greater transparency in methodology and data
The University of Coimbra (UC) has strengthened its position in the latest ranking of the CWTS-Centre for Science and Technology Studies in Leiden, a reference institution in the field of research evaluation tools. The CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition launched its first edition for the year 2023, and the second edition last October 9, for 2024. The distinguishing mark of this ranking is the use of the OpenAlex database to collect the indicators and the defence of greater transparency in methodology and data.
For one global domain (All Sciences) and five particular fields (Biomedical and health sciences, Life and earth sciences, Mathematics and computer science, Physical sciences and engineering, Social sciences and humanities), the results show the scores and global positioning of 1506 universities in three broad categories of indicators: Scientific Impact, Collaboration and Open Access. Within each category, the values are detailed, and the position of the institutions in each of the indicators varies for the analysed period 2019-2022.
In the global field, the University of Coimbra ranks 318th in the world in the number of open access publications, with a percentage of 65.2 per cent of all publications. In the scientific impact indicator, it ranks 319th for the number of publications (articles and book chapters). In terms of the number of publications in international collaboration, the UC ranks 296th. In 2023, the UC's position was 339th, 360th and 307th, respectively, and has therefore improved in all indicators.
Analysing the five scientific areas, Biomedical and health sciences stand out as the ones in which the UC has the highest percentage of open access publications (70.9%). The CWTS results page allows the analysis of the detailed figures by type of open access (gold, hybrid, bronze, green).
The CWTS supports the responsible use of university rankings and proposes 10 principles that should guide this use, including transparency and the need not to overlook other dimensions of university performance not considered in the rankings.
The University of Leiden, which is part of the CWTS, like the UC, is part of the Coimbra Group, which recently joined the More Than Our Rank initiative.