Several UP websites top Webometrics rankings for second half of 2024

By KIM G Quilinguing on August 27, 2024

Two websites of the University of the Philippines (UP) landed in the top spots of the Webometrics rankings for the second half of 2024. In the overall rankings, the UP System website landed in second place, while the UP Manila website secured the sixth spot.

The De La Salle University Manila is top one for this round of the overall rankings, while the Ateneo de Manila University is at third place. They are followed by the University of Santo Tomas, fourth; and the Mapua Institute of Technology, in fifth place.

Other websites of the UP System also appeared in the top 100 of the Webometrics list: UP Visayas (24th); UP Mindanao (50th); UP Cebu (57th); UP Diliman (58th); and UP Baguio (61st).

*A screenshot of the home page of the UP System website.*

The Webometrics Rankings of World Universities is conducted by the Cybermetrics Lab of Spain. The rankings are conducted twice a year, with the results published every January and July.

The evaluation of the websites of these higher education institutions are based on the following factors: the volume of content available via the website; the visibility of these research content; and the impact of these educational materials, based on how these are linked to other research works and institutions online.

Aside from the overall rankings of the websites of higher education institutions, these are also ranked according to the following categorization: Impact; Openness; and Excellence.

*A screenshot of the UP Manila website.*

The UP System leads the country's websites in terms of Impact, landing at the first top spot. In the second top spot is the Ateneo de Manila University, followed by De La Salle University Manila at the third top spot. The University of Santo Tomas is in the fourth top spot, followed by the University of San Carlos.

Among UP's constituent universities, UP Manila landed in the sixth top spot, while UP Visayas secured the 37th spot. UP Mindanao is at the 43rd spot, while UP Baguio landed at the 58th spot. UP Cebu is at the 89th spot, while UP Diliman lands in the 364th spot.

In terms of Openness, the UP System website trumps all the other universities by landing at the top first spot. Following at the second top spot is De La Salle University Manila, while UP Diliman is positioned in the third top spot. The University of Santo Tomas is at the fourth top spot, while the Ateneo de Manila University rounds up the top five at the fifth top spot.

UP's other units also figured in the rankings in terms of Openness. UP Visayas is ranked at 133rd, while UP Mindanao is at the 136th spot. UP Manila is at the 157th spot, while UP Cebu is at the 262nd spot. Rounding up the university's constituent universities is UP Baguio, which is at the 352nd spot.

In the Excellence category, UP Diliman leads the country's universities at the top first spot, followed by the De La Salle University Manila in the second top spot. UP Manila joined its fellow constituent university at the third top spot, while the Ateneo de Manila University is at the fourth top spot. The University of Santo Tomas wrapped up the top five, by being in the fifth top spot.

The UP System website is ranked sixth in the Excellence category, while UP Visayas is ranked 12th. UP Cebu is ranked 29th, while UP Mindanao landed at the 30th spot. UP Baguio meanwhile, settled at the 50th spot.

*A screenshot of the top ten universities assessed via their website. Click through to view the full rankings.*

The Webometrics rankings is considered as the largest independent, objective, and open scientific global academic ranking system of higher education institutions which provides "reliable, multidimensional, updated and useful information about the performance of universities from all over the world." Unlike other rankings methodologies, it uses link analysis, considered to be a better means for assessing the impact of universities than citation analysis or global surveys.

Conducted by the Cybermetrics Lab of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) or the Spanish National Research Council since 2004, the Webometrics Rankings of World Universities was conceptualized as a means of promoting "academic web presence" to support Open Access initiatives in terms of research and knowledge-sharing. These are believed by the council to enable "scientific and cultural knowledge by universities."

Based in the Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCSH) of the CSIC, the lab performs quantitative analysis of the websites of higher education institutions, particularly those which provide and communicate scientific knowledge.

Founded in 1939, the CSIC, or Spanish National Research Council, is the largest public research institution in Spain. It is the third largest of such institutions in Europe. As part of the Ministry of Education, it promotes scientific research with the hope of helping countries abroad enhance the state of their scientific research.