Global university rankings in research evaluation: a comprehensive literature review

Abstract

We address the question of why global university rankings should not be used for research evaluation. To answer this question, we analyze four groups of literature (academic vs non-academic literature, English-language vs Russian-language literature). The analysis shows that most researchers agree that rankings should not be used to evaluate research. However, they are still used for these purposes directly or indirectly, although recent developments give us hope for a change in the situation in the near future.