Stellenbosch University (SU) occupies the top position among African universities in the latest Webometric Ranking of World Universitiesannounced recently. The Ranking is based on an evaluation of universities’ web presence.
Founded in 2004, the Webometric Ranking of World Universities is published bi-annually by the Cybermetrics lab, a research group of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) located in Madrid. The Ranking evaluates more than 20 000 universities worldwide using various web indicators.
Based on a composite indicator, the Ranking is determined by factors such as web content (number of web pages and files), web visibility and web impact. Elements which contribute to the calculation of the indicator are: number of links and number of pages on the site domain: the number of files in online formats such as pdf, doc, docxa and ppt: number of articles, papers and citations in the academic domain: as well as articles published in high impact, international journals. The underlying premise is that a university’s web presence is a reliable indicator of its performance and prestige.
Commenting on the rankings, Prof Eugene Cloete, Vice-Rector: Research and Innovation, says that the University is cementing its reputation as a world-class institution. ‚”Not only has the University since 2011 broken into three global rankings in quick succession the QS World University Ranking, The Times Higher Education World University Ranking, and the Leiden Ranking, but the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) reported that Stellenbosch achieved the highest weighted research output per fulltime-equivalent academic staff member of all universities in South Africa for the third time in a row.‚”
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