The University of Strathclyde has been placed 3rd out of 1,411 global higher education institutions, for the percentage of its research outputs published via Open Access, in the CWTS Leiden Rankings Open Edition 2023.
Open Access publishing of research outputs – such as results, methodologies, and data – means they are free and accessible to anyone, without requiring subscriptions to academic journals.
Strathclyde’s position in the rankings is thanks to 91.7% of its outputs over the period of 2018-2021 being published freely which makes it the highest-ranked Scottish university.
Important analytics
The new ranking system is an experiment by CSWTS (Centre for Science and Technology Studies), testing the capacity of a new generation of data sources – in particular OpenAlex, provided by OurResearch – to deliver the coverage and quality of data required for these important analytics.
The aim of the new ranking system is to complement CWTS’s ‘traditional’ Leiden ranking, which is based on the data provided by the Clarivate Web of Science. This is part of a wider – and widespread – attempt to move towards a higher level of transparency in the data sources.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Strathclyde, said: “Strathclyde is a research-intensive, leading international technological University and as part of our five-year strategic plan to 2030, we seek to engage a wide audience with our research, enhance our public awareness activities, and demonstrate a flourishing research community.
“Through Open Access our research outputs can have higher impact and visibility, resulting in increased collaboration opportunities and citation impact. It is also what funding bodies expect, so it is heartening to see that Strathclyde commitment to Open Access publishing reflected in the Leiden Rankings Open Edition.
I am grateful for the efforts of colleagues in our Scholarly Publications & Research Data team in the Library for working with our academics to achieve this level of research transparency.
As a leading international technological university with socially progressive values, Strathclyde is committed to advancing Open Research policy and practice to maximise the benefits for academia, industry and society. Strathclyde is progressing towards fully open access publishing and open research data in line with the FAIR Principles – findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability.