Global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds has published its latest World University Rankings for 2020. As part of the study, QS ranked 1,000 universities from 82 different locations, surveyed 94,000 academics and 44,000 hiring managers and analysed 11.8 million research papers and 100 million citations.

Universities are measured on academic standing, graduate employability, student/staff ratio, research impact, and internationalisation. According to the QS rankings, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has made history, topping the rankings for the eighth consecutive year. US universities continue to dominate the upper reaches of the ranking – following MIT, Stanford University, Harvard University and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) all retained their positions at second, third and fifth in the world respectively.

China, continental Europe and Australia saw a number of their universities climb the 2020 rankings.

The QS ranking is based on a mix of survey responses and hard data across six indicators, compiled and weighted to formulate a final score. Over 80,000 academics and 40,000 employers contributed to the rankings through the QS global surveys, while QS said it analysed 99 million citations from 10.3 million papers, and 1,000 institutions were ranked.

The ranking’s biggest indicator, accounting for 40% of the total score, is based on academic reputation. Academic reputation is measured using a global survey, in which academics were asked to identify the institutions where they believe the best work is currently taking place within their field of expertise.