Abstract:
This study uses the checklist method, survey studies, and Highly Cited Researchers to identify
100 highly prestigious international academic awards. The study then examines the impact of
using these awards on the Academic Ranking of World Universities (the Shanghai Ranking),
the QS World University Rankings, and the Times Higher Education World University
Rankings. Results show that awards considerably change the rankings and scores of top
universities, especially those that receive a large number of awards and those that receive few
or no awards. The rankings of all other universities with relatively similar numbers of awards
remain intact. If given 20% weight, as was the case in this study, awards help ranking systems
set universities further apart from each other, making it easier for users to detect differences in
the levels of performance. Adding awards to ranking systems benefits United States universities
the most as a result of winning 58% of 1,451 awards given in 2010–2019. Developers of
ranking systems should consider adding awards as a variable in assessing the performance of
universities. Users of university rankings should pay attention to both ranking positions and
scores.
