Whilst scientists and researchers battle to develop a cure for the coronavirus, higher education institutions are facing one of the toughest challenges ever. It goes without saying that the number one objective is to keep students and staff safe, but the business repercussions are now being felt keenly. 

2020 promises to be another year which presents increasing challenges to universities operating globally, whilst providing opportunities to grow profile and embed reputation as a key pillar of institutional strategy and delivery.

This month's Rankings Watch looks at the academic reputation surveys that underpin the THE World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings

The latest World 100 Reputation Network social media rankings, covering engagement on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube across 467 of the world's best universities. 6 W100 members feature in the top 100 for social media engagement across all platforms.

The next W100 annual research project kicks off in January, with the launch of the first surveys for the International Reputation Tracker pilot. Most W100 members are taking an active role in the project to develop new ways of measuring reputation internationally beyond the rankings.

An overview of the final global ranking of the season, U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities 2019 and a focus on our members' performance

New research by the World 100 Reputation Network (W100) shows that most universities are not adequately preparing for the reputation risks associated with international partnerships.

New research by the World 100 Reputation Network shows that most universities are failing to fully exploit the opportunities for using strategic international partnerships to grow their global profile.

Universities with a strong focus on building reputation are winning the race for global recognition, according to analysis of data from the latest THE World University rankings released in mid-September 2019

The brand new W100 Social Media Rankings are now available, providing a much more comprehensive view across a range of platforms than the previous Twitter Engagement Rank.

The 2019 edition of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, produced by Chinese consultancy Shanghai Rankings, was published on 15th August. The Shanghai Rankings, first published in 2003, have a significantly different methodology to the other main global league tables, with a stronger focus on research metrics and no specific reputation measures.

46 of the 52 W100 Reputation Network members improved or maintained their academic reputation scores compared to the previous year in the latest QS table, as the rankings season gets into full flow.