Calculation

Four counting methods are used for authors; university rankings use the first two. The definitions follow Chua, Cao, Cousins and Straub (JAIS, 2002), the standard counting methods in research productivity studies of the IS field. The site labels them in plain language and shows the formal name in brackets.

Papers (normal)

Every co-author of a paper receives 1. A university receives at most 1 per paper, however many of its authors are on it.

Shared credit (adjusted)

Each of the n authors receives 1/n. A university with p of the n authors receives p/n.

Weighted (step down)

Credit steps down with team size: 1 for a single-authored paper, 0.7 for two authors, 0.5 for three, 0.3 for four or more.

First author (straight)

Only the first author receives credit.

Movement Symbols

The symbol beside a rank shows how the position changed after papers from the latest selected year were added.

For example, selecting 2021 to 2026 compares the current ranking with the ranking for 2021 to 2025.

▲5 means the author or university moved up five places.
▼5 means the author or university moved down five places.
– means the position did not change.
new means the author or university had no papers in the earlier period and is appearing in the ranking for the first time.

The symbols update whenever you change the conference, region, paper type, or counting method. If you select only one year, the symbols are hidden because there is no earlier period to compare.

Rank changes should be considered alongside the paper counts. Near the middle of a long ranking, one additional paper can move an author or university many places. Movement near the top of the ranking is usually more meaningful.