| Ranking System | Times Higher Education (THE) | QS World University Ranking System | Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) |
| Type | Multi-indicator rankings system | Reputational rankings system | Award factor system |
| Emphasis | Research | Student experience | Scientific Research |
| Breakdown | - Teaching quality (30%)
- Research: volume, income and reputation (30%)
- Research influence (30%)
- Industry income: innovation (2.5%)
- International outlook: staff, students and research (7.5%).
| - Academic reputation (30%)
- Employer reputation (10%)
- Faculty-student ratio (20%)
- Citations per paper (15%)
- Papers per faculty (15%)
- International faculty (2.5%)
- International students (2.5%)
- Inbound exchange students (2.5%)
- Outbound exchange students (2.5%)
| - Faculty quality: nobel laureates (20%) and highly cited researchers (20%)
- Research: published in nature science (20%) and papers indexed in Science citation index-expanded and social science citation index (20%)
- Per Capita Performance (10%)
- Teaching quality (10%)
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| Survey Method | Relies invitation-only survey of academics (teaching and reputation) accounts for 1/3 of the ranking system | Relies on reputational survey (it accounts for 40% of overall ranking | Team of researchers at the Centre for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University sums up these criteria to assess university’s ranking. |
| Who uses it? | Government: Scholarship sponsors (e.g. JPA Overseas Scholarship) | Employers | Government |
| Who should use it? | Students planning to continue postgraduate studies either by research or coursework | Students looking for the best learning experience overseas or planning to join the job market right after graduation | Students who are looking for permanent academic jobs or planning to pursue postgraduate studies by research |