{June 23, 2010 by globalhighered ) Why do we care so much about the actual and potential uses of bibliometrics (“the generic term for data about publications,” according to the OECD), and world university ranking methodologies, but care so little about the private sector firms, and their inter-firm relations, that drive the bibliometrics/global rankings agenda forward?

Letter to the editor

The issue of March 27, 2010 of The Economist in its article "University Rankings League Apart" you discuss some of the current state of global academic rankings. While recognizing their impact on institutions, concerns are raised with regard to problems inherent in doing such rankings. The article ends by saying that "all that remains undone is a credible, rigorous ranking of league tables themselves."Your readers might be interested to note that such a system of evaluating rankings is currently being developed by the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence.

(Warsaw, March 8, 2010). The first General Assembly of the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence met in Warsaw, March 8, 2010. This new global organization based in Warsaw was established in October, 2009; its goal is the improvement of the quality of international and national ranking of higher education institutions. Considering the increasing importance of rankings among future students, and fact that rankings influence financial decisions of government bodies responsible for higher education, the organization decided to carry out, on request, audit of some leading international and national rankings in order to find out if they meet the highest methodology standards.

Shanghai, November 4, 2009. The Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University released the 2009 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) at the Third International Conference on World- Class Universities held in Shanghai from Nov 2-4. The rankings identify the leading 500 universities around the world and are widely referenced by the global university community.

www.arwu.org/ARWU2009.jsp