More Than Our Rank
The More Than Our Rank initiative has been developed in response to some of the problematic features and effects of the global university rankings. It provides an opportunity for academic institutions to highlight the many and various ways they serve the world that are not reflected in their ranking position. This initiative is meant for every academic institution, whether ranked or unranked, top 10 or yet to place. It is an initiative for institutions who are proud of their ranking position but also recognize the limitations of the indicators used, and for those who feel that the rankings do not reflect their strengths or institutional mission. Every institution in the world is much more than their rank. This initiative is simply an opportunity to publicly say so and explain why.
Why participate?
By participating in the More Than Our Rank initiative, academic institutions are demonstrating a commitment to responsible assessment and to acknowledging a broader and more diverse definition of institutional success.
To find out more, why not listen back to our Community Calls?
How to participate
Institutions that wish to participate can simply sign up through this website and add the More Than Our Rank logo to their web pages or promotional materials. There is no fee to participate in this global initiative. Academic institutions are asked to post a statement promoting institutional activities, achievements or ambitions that are not adequately captured by national or international university rankings. The statements of some early adopter institutions can be viewed below. Individuals who would like to encourage their institution to participate in More Than Our Rank might find the following PDF guide helpful. Also available in Word.
Any questions, please contact: inorms@arma.ac.uk
Early Adopter Institutions
We’re grateful to the following early adopter institutions for their support of More Than Our Rank:
Full list of Signatories
We’re grateful to the following institutions for their support of More Than Our Rank:
Click on an institution’s name to read their MTOR statement.
| Signatories |
|---|
| Izmir Institute of Technology |
| Keele University |
| Lutsk National Technical University |
| Loughborough University |
| Moldova State University |
| Petroleum University of Technology |
| Politecnico di Milano |
| Queensland University of Technology (QUT) |
| Unity Health Toronto |
| Università Politecnica delle Marche |
| Universidad Rey Juan Carlos |
| Université De Poitiers |
| University of Derby |
| University of East Anglia |
| University "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola |
| University of Isfahan |
| University of Turku |
| University of Utrecht |
| Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |
Supporting Organisations
More Than Our Rank is delighted to have the support of the following organisations:
“CLASCO FOLEC considers MTOR very helpful for universities to strengthen complementary research assessment narratives, whilst giving institutions a chance to define their strengths on their own terms.”
“At the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University we are deeply concerned about the excessive impact of the major university rankings on the global higher education system. Universities need to acknowledge the limitations and weaknesses of these rankings and need to reduce the influence of these rankings on their decision making. To promote a healthy higher education system, we all need to recognize that we are More Than Our Rank.”
“DORA is pleased to be able to offer full-throated support to the INORMS More Than Our Rank Initiative. Although DORA is best known for its critique of the misuse of journal impact factors, the underlying principle of this critique is the rejection of aggregate metrics which reduce a wide range of research activities to a single number. That principle therefore includes the H-index and the arbitrarily weighted scores of limited and limiting sets of proxy indicators used to assemble university rankings. The research, education, innovation, public and myriad other activities performed by universities are far richer than can be captured in reductive rankings. DORA therefore welcomes the MTOR initiative since it provides universities with an opportunity to share the stories and evidence of the amazing things that their staff and students do every single day.”
“Because the important role of universities being catalyst for innovation in business and society at large is not fully captured in traditional rankings, European Consortium of Innovative Universities’ supports the More Than Our Rank initiative.”
“The European University Association (EUA) is pleased to provide its support to the INORMS “More Than Our Rank” initiative. EUA emphasises that there is no single definition of quality in higher education, and that this should rather be considered in the context of national, institutional and departmental or subject-specific parameters. EUA believes that the initiative will have an important role in drawing attention to the broad diversity of practices and activities that should be part of a responsible assessment system, capturing the impact that university activities have on their local community and society at large.”
“Emerald Publishing is committed to advancing practical and robust approaches to research assessment globally. Thus, we are pleased to be adding our support to the global initiative, More than Our Rank, reinforcing our commitment to promoting best practices in research evaluation.”
“The HuMetricsHSS initiative is pleased to support the More Than Our Rank initiative. In our work on understanding and transforming scholarly evaluation across academic institutions, we have consistently encountered university rankings as a barrier to real change, which requires courage, support for failure, and the ability to redefine and expand concepts of excellence and quality. Rankings must be critically examined and put in conversation with many other indicators of campus environment, knowledge creation, and tangible impact in order to create an academic ecosystem that is more humane, equitable, and just.”
Racine Review supports ‘More Than Your Rank’ because it recognizes that universities are multifaceted institutions with diverse strengths and aspirations that extend beyond simplistic metrics.
“Science Europe is delighted to give its full support to the More Than Our Rank initiative by the INORMS Research Evaluation Group. Tackling problematic features and effects of global university rankings aligns closely with our strategic priority to advance research culture and reform research assessment in Europe and beyond. We specifically look forward to exploring the complementarities between this initiative and the newly launched Coalition on Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).”
“Scientific Center of Innovative Researches” is pleased to provide its support to the INORMS “More Than Our Rank” initiative. We believe that the positions of universities cannot be based only on the results of the publication activity of its researchers, and should also include other indicators of the quality of education.”
“The Forum for Responsible Research Metrics is strongly committed to advocating for the responsible use of metrics, and to engaging internationally to achieve these aims. One of the key challenges faced by institutions seeking to deliver on their own responsible metrics principles is the use of poor metrics by third parties to assess them. To address the limitations of metrics-based global university rankings (some of which use narrow and questionable metrics), the INORMS Research Evaluation Group has developed the More Than Our Rank initiative. It provides an excellent opportunity for institutions to make a public statement as to how much more they offer society than the global rankings seek to measure. The Forum for Responsible Research Metrics is therefore delighted to express support for the More Than Our Rank initiative and encourages all academic institutions to participate.”
“U-Multirank believes that measuring the performance of universities should not be done by single indictors nor by a composite overall score. Universities have different missions and profiles, and these should be reflected in a multi-dimensional measurement of their performance. More Than Our Rank is an important initiative that seeks to promote this idea.”
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