LONDON, November 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

• Elsevier's Scopus data and metrics from SciVal analytics to be used for research evaluation 
• Institutional data collection and global reputation survey brought in-house by Times Higher Education to provide a richer picture of university performance 

Times Higher Education (THE) and Elsevier today announced they are partnering to provide the data behind the THE's flagship World University Rankings and its global university performance analyses.

The methodology of the global rankings will be broadly preserved. The rankings will continue to use the most comprehensive and balanced performance indicators to evaluate universities across all of their core missions, including research, knowledge transfer, international outlook, and - uniquely - the teaching environment.

However, research publication data will now be drawn from Elsevier's Scopus database. Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific and technical information, and Scopus is the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed academic literature. With this data source, THE will be able to analyse more research activity from a greater number of institutions, including those institutions from emerging economies that account for a growing portion of research. THE will also use SciVal, Elsevier's research metrics analysis tool, to continue to innovate its research performance metrics and analysis.

Going forward, all institutional data collection, previously outsourced to Thomson Reuters, will be expanded and carried out by a dedicated team of data analysts at THE. This will underpin the THE World University Rankings, as well as supplementary rankings such as the THE 100 Under 50, the THE Asia Rankings and the THE BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings (from 2015).

THE and Elsevier will also today launch the annual global academic reputation survey. This survey provides data for the World University Rankings and the World Reputation Rankings, to provide the most detailed picture yet of the world's leading universities, judged by those who best understand excellence in teaching and research: the scholars themselves.

Trevor Barratt, Managing Director of THE, said, "The THE World University Rankings are already exceptionally influential and our global performance indicators are in demand across the world. We are now entering an exciting new phase in the development of the THE's gold-standard analyses. Our partnership with Elsevier will ensure that we remain at the forefront of developments and innovations in the evaluation of university performance."

Nick Fowler, Elsevier's Managing Director, Research Management, said, "We are thrilled to partner with THE: the THE World University Rankings are a global leader in university rankings. They support university and industry leaders in setting strategic priorities and making investment decisions, and they help governments shape national policy. These objectives align with Elsevier's: with our Research Intelligence portfolio, including Scopus and SciVal, we aim to help universities, funding bodies and governments establish and implement their strategies. We feel privileged to be playing an active role in helping universities calibrate their progress."

For further reading, please visit Times Higher Education and Elsevier Connect.

About THE 

Across Higher Education, TES Global owns and produces the award-winning Times Higher Education (THE) magazine; The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (WUR), the THE World Summit Series and THE Awards. The WUR are the only global university performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The rankings are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments. The THE magazine, online and in print, is designed specifically for professionals working in higher education and research. For more information, visit: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/

About TES Global 

TES Global is home to the world's largest online community of teachers, with 6.4 million registered users. TES Global exists to drive up standards of education by putting the right teachers in the right jobs and giving them the tools to be the very best that they can be. Its teaching platforms, including http://www.tesconnect.com, http://www.sharemylesson.com and http://www.wikispaces.com, provide access to more than 800,000 individually crafted resources - now downloaded over 500 million times - developed by teachers, for teachers. TES Global has long been the UK's number one for education hiring solutions, with over 70,000 teaching jobs advertised on its platforms in the past 12 months.

For more information, visit: http://www.tesglobal.com/

About Elsevier 

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence, and ClinicalKey -and publishes over 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works.

The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

SOURCE Elsevier