THE Impact Rankings 2020 by SDG: clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) methodology

Browse the full Impact Rankings 2020 results

This ranking focuses on universities’ research related to water, their water usage and their commitment to ensuring good water management in the wider community.

Please view the methodology page for the Impact Rankings 2020 to find out how these data are used in the overall ranking. 

Metrics

Research on clean water and sanitation (27%)

• Proportion of papers in the top 10 per cent of journals as defined by Citescore (10%)
• Field-weighted citation index of papers (10%)
• Number of publications (7%)

This focuses on research that is relevant to clean water and sanitation, measuring the proportion of papers in the top 10 per cent of cited journals, citation impact and the volume of research produced. The field-weighted citation index is a subject-normalised score of the citation performance of publications.

The data are provided by Elsevier’s Scopus dataset and based on a query of keywords associated with SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation). The dataset includes all indexed publications between 2014 and 2018. The data are normalised across the range using Z-scoring.

Water usage (19%)

This is defined as the volume of water used per person on campus per year. It includes water used by students and employees and is based on full-time equivalents.

The data were provided directly by universities and normalised across the range using Z-scoring.

Water care (23%)

• Process to treat wastewater (4.6%)
• Process to prevent polluted water entering water system (4.6%)
• Free drinking water for students, staff and visitors (4.6%)
• Building standards to minimise water use (4.6%)
• Plant landscapes to minimise water usage (4.6%)

The data and evidence for these metrics were provided directly by universities. The evidence was evaluated and scored by Times Higher Education and is not normalised.

Proportion of reused or recycled water (12%)

This is defined as the total volume of water that is recycled or reused as a percentage of the total water consumption.

The data were provided directly by universities and normalised across the range using Z-scoring.

Water in the community (19%)

• Educational opportunities for local communities to learn about good water management (3.8%)
• Promote conscious water usage on campus and in wider community (3.8%)
• Support water conservation off campus (3.8%)
• Sustainable water extraction technologies on associated university grounds off campus (3.8%)
• Cooperate with local, regional, national or global governments on water security (3.8%)

The data and evidence for these metrics were provided directly by universities. The evidence was evaluated and scored by Times Higher Education and is not normalised.

Evidence

When we ask about policies and initiatives, our metrics require universities to provide the evidence to support their claims. Evidence is evaluated against a set of criteria and decisions are cross validated where there is uncertainty. Evidence is not required to be exhaustive – we are looking for examples that demonstrate best practice at the institutions concerned.

Timeframe

Unless otherwise stated, the data used refer to the closest academic year to January to December 2018.

Exclusions

Universities must teach undergraduates and be validated by a recognised accreditation body to be included in the ranking.

Data collection

Institutions provide and sign off their institutional data for use in the rankings. On the rare occasions when a particular data point is not provided, we enter a value of zero.