Three UP websites top the 2024 Webometrics Rankings in the Philippines

KIM G Quilinguing

February 20

Three University of the Philippines websites top the list of university websites in the country, according to the recent Webometrics Ranking of World Universities published by the Cybermetrics Lab of Spain.

Released in January, the rankings show UP Diliman in the top spot, leading 363 other universities in the country. The UP System secured the third spot, while UP Manila is top seven.

While Cybermetrics assesses the universities via their websites, the ranking is not an evaluation of the features and usability of the online property. The Lab assess the higher education institutions via: the volume of content made available via the website; the visibility of these contents; and the impact of these materials, based on how much these are linked to other research materials online.

*Screenshot of the rankings on the Webometrics website. Please click through to view the rankings on their live website.*

Aside from the overall rankings, Webometrics also categorizes the rankings under three areas: Impact, Openness, and Excellence.

In terms of Impact rankings, UP Diliman is on the top spot, followed by Ateneo de Manila University, then the UP System. UP Manila holds the tenth top spot. The Impact rankings refer to how the university's research is disseminated online via citations, backlinks, and quotations in other research materials and institutions.

For Openness rankings, the UP System is at the top, followed by De La Salle University Manila, then UP Diliman. The Openness rankings refer to the availability of research materials on the university's website.

In terms of Excellence Rankings, UP Diliman is again at the top spot, followed by De La Salle University Manila, and then UP Manila. The UP System landed the fourth spot in this category. Excellence rankings refer to the quality of research materials made available by universities via their websites.

*Screenshot of the home page of the UP Diliman website. Please click through to visit the live website.*

In the overall rankings, the other UP constituent universities rank as follows: UP Visayas is 27^th, UP Cebu is 55^th, and UP Baguio has the 114^th spot. UP constituent units UP Los Baños, UP Mindanao, and UP Tacloban College are not in the rankings.

Globally, UP Diliman ranks 856^th, the UP System is at the 1,912^th spot. UP Manila is at the 3,436^th spot.

*Screenshot of the home page of the UP System website. Please click through to view the home page.*

The Webometrics Ranking of World Universities is conducted by the Cybermetrics Lab of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) or the Spanish National Research Council. Located in the Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCSH), the Lab conducts quantitative analysis of websites, particularly those which generate and communicate scientific knowledge.

The CSIC on the other hand is the largest public research institution in Spain. Founded in 1939, it is the third largest of such institutions in the whole of Europe. It is attached to the Ministry of Education and promotes scientific research, in the hopes of improving the state of scientific research in various countries.

Started in 2004, the Ranking of World Universities is published twice a year: every January and July. It was conceived "to promote academic web presence" in support of Open Access initiatives which will "allow for the scientific and cultural knowledge generated by the universities."