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Boosting the Ranking of a University Using Self-Citations


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1 School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
 

The unreal growth of some universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is questioned. We show that the universities and individuals can exploit a weakness of ranking tables by engaging in excessive self-citations. The genuine efforts by the academic community to work towards high-quality research are put to shame, and unethical conduct and behaviour become acceptable. The credibility of global university ranking tables is under question.
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  • Times Higher Education, 2017; https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/veltech-university#ranking-dataset/608682 (accessed on 25 July 2017).

  • SciVal, 2017; http://www.scival.com/overview/summary?uri=Institution/706989 (accessed on 25 July 2017).

  • Aspenia online; https://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/international-university-rankings-science-or-quackery (accessed on 25 July 2017).

  • Schiermeier, Q., Nature, 2008, 456(7221), 432.


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  • Boosting the Ranking of a University Using Self-Citations

Abstract Views: 373  |  PDF Views: 124

Authors

Maxime Mussard
School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan
Alex Pappachen
School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana 010000, Kazakhstan

Abstract


The unreal growth of some universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is questioned. We show that the universities and individuals can exploit a weakness of ranking tables by engaging in excessive self-citations. The genuine efforts by the academic community to work towards high-quality research are put to shame, and unethical conduct and behaviour become acceptable. The credibility of global university ranking tables is under question.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi10%2F1827-1827