Methodological Problems in University Success Rankings: A Literature Review Regarding Methodological Criticisms

In recent years, the ranking of higher education institutions is currently a hot issue. Increasingly it is observed that the research on the most admired universities or academic success rankings on national or international level are being carried out by various institutions and organizations. These rankings associated with corporate reputation bring about many methodological problems and they are criticized severely by the scientists. In this study, different university ranking systems will be examined. The aim of this study is to determine the methodological problems that emerge during the research on the academic success of the global universities through literature review. This study is restricted to the criticisms; THE, ARWU, and Webometrics criteria. The fact that no universally accepted success criteria are available brings about an obligation to carry out research on how to develop methods to find out more objective solutions for success rankings. Determining the methodological problems in success rankings through an extensive literature review, the quality of the future studies in this field is expected to be raised.