2017
Extension of the the citation period to six years.
Re-calibration of the Employer Reputation’s international/domestic weightings to 50:50.
2016
Modification of affiliation cap to adapt to different subject contexts – ensures no more than 0.1% of research is excluded from any discipline – applies to both subject and overall rankings
Adaptation of standardization model to lock standard deviation and mean to the top 700 for each indicator in the QS World University Rankings
2015
Introduction of faculty area normalization for citations and paper measures
Introduction of an affiliation cap, screening out papers with more than 10 institutional affiliations from all bibliometric analysis
Extension of survey ranges to five years for academic and employer reputation, with lower weighting for the the first two years
First (pilot) edition of QS Graduate Employability Rankings
2014
First edition of QS University Rankings: Emerging Europe & Central Asia
First edition of QS University Rankings: Arab Region
2013
Score based on h-index added to the QS World University Rankings by Subject
Inaugural QS University Rankings – BRICS launched
2012
QS Global Student Cities launched
QS Top 50 under 50 launched
QS World University Rankings by Subject extended to 29 disciplines
QS World University Rankings by Subject methodology improved to better highlight specialist institutions
Refined global and regional inclusion policy to require a minimum of three graduating classes in at least two faculty areas in order for operations at a new level (i.e. undergraduate/postgraduate) to be considered
Stronger country weighting applied for employer survey
Subject specific responses folded into main academic reputation analysis
Damping mechanism modified to ensure faster recognition of genuine changes in performance – particularly in outlying instances
Status component added to classifications – A: Public; B: Private not for profit; C: Private for profit
2011
Released rankings at a discipline level (26 subjects) for the first time
Dropped World Scientific as a key channel for academic respondents
Self-citations excluded for the first time
Survey weightings refined to control outlying response levels at a country level
Academic respondents from a given institution (who cannot respond for that institution) excluded from the calculation of domestic reputation
Age metric added to QS Classifications
QS SAFE extended to embrace institutions in the top 700
Inaugural QS University Rankings – Latin America launched
2010
QS Core launched, a new custom built system designed to help gather and manage data submissions from universities
Classifications refined for increased versatility and readability
Damping mechanism applied to eliminate swings beyond certain thresholds
Cap of 50% applied to international indicators
Scaling adjusted to reduce volatility amongst the lower ranked institutions
Invited institutions to supply lists of academics to augment the academic survey
Established International Advisory Board
2009
QS Classifications released for the first time using alpha-numeric notation to group institutions by size, focus and research intensity
Switched to Qualtrics for survey delivery, implemented AJAX “type to search” questions
Implemented Academic Sign-up Facility to invite academics to volunteer to participate in Academic Survey
Inaugural QS Asian University Rankings published
2008
QS SAFE – National System Strength Analysis released for the first time
Domestic and international responses separated in survey analysis
2007
Switch to Scopus from Thomson’s Essential Science Indicators for publication and citation data. Broader journal coverage means more institutions than ever are reflected in our citations analysis
Survey respondents are prevented from responding on behalf of their own institution
Definitions are standardized to require Full Time Equivalent (FTE/EFTS) data for all faculty and student submissions
Indicators are normalized for the first time to ensure fair and consistent application of weightings
2006
Individual fact files are distributed for the first time, giving institutions advanced warning of the news to come
Invited institutions to supply lists of employers for us to be included in the Employer Survey
2005
Employer Reputation is added in 2005. The weighting on Academic Reputation is dropped from 50% to 40% to make way for the new indicator
Introduced Mardev as a key source of Academic Responses
2004
QS World University Rankings launch in October 2004