by PRINCE RONSON SABADO
THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas failed to secure a rank in the English Language and Literature category of the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.
From 301-320 previously, UST was not able to obtain a place in the discipline in the 2023 QS World University Rankings by Subject, a result tied to the failure of its research to generate an impact.
“The University of Santo Tomas has slipped out of the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 for English Language and Literature after placing in the 301-320 band in 2022. Interestingly, neither did it rank in 2021 for this discipline,” QS told The Flame in a recent email interview.
“This indicates that its research could be failing to generate impact, thereby hindering not its progress and, ultimately, its inclusion in the rankings,” it added.
UST scored 27.9 out of 100 in the criteria last year, 20 points lower than its closest competitor in the country.
QS said the lack of adequate data from institutions, surveys or the research and citations database Scopus is usually the reason why a university falls out of the rankings.
“Therefore, a concerted effort to produce high-quality research in English Language and Literature would go some way to rectify this downfall,” it added.
QS also advised UST to ensure the dissemination of its scholarship to the “widest possible audience” in the academic community and beyond through “cross-border collaboration and diversity in both faculty and student cohort.”
The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 is determined through five indicators, namely, academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per paper, H-index, and international research network by broad faculty area.
Three Philippine universities were able to secure their rankings in the English Language and Literature subject this year, namely, the University of the Philippines (151-200), Ateneo de Manila University (201-250), and De La Salle University (201-250).
Better Medicine ranking
UST only ranked in the Medicine category of the QS subject rankings at the 601-650 band. It is the second-highest Philippine university to be ranked in the category this year.
QS said the ranking improvement was due to UST’s significant gains in its H-index, the indicator responsible for analyzing research quality and impact.
“Medicine, and the sciences generally, are research-intensive and strongly career-focused, meaning there is much more data to draw from, both in terms of reputation surveys and research analysis,” QS told The Flame.
“It is apparent, therefore, that the University of Santo Tomas is sufficiently reputable and produces enough research of a high enough quality to qualify it for ranking in this subject,” it added.
The QS World University Rankings by Subject seeks to help students identify the world’s leading universities based on their chosen fields by ranking universities across 54 subjects.
QS earlier announced that the 2023 edition is its biggest ranking to date with over 1,594 institutions included and over 15,700 academic programs featured this year. F
