Pompeu Fabra University is in first place in the overall ranking of scientific productivity of universities produced by Gualberto Buela-Casal, a lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Granada and published in Psicothema .

In second place is the Autonomous University of Barcelona, followed by Pablo de Olavide University (Seville), the Autonomous University of Madrid and the University of Barcelona, in third, fourth and fifth position, respectively.

According to the authors, in comparison with previous years, twenty-one universities have improved their positions, six have maintained them and twenty-one have fallen in the rankings. However, the most significant detail is that the top four positions are always occupied by the same universities - one of which is UPF, which has improved its position in the overall ranking from second in 2008 to first in 2009.

The methodology used in this study has provided specific rankings for each of the seven indicators assessed and weighted by lecturer with a civil servant contract: the number of publications and citations in journals with an impact factor; research periods; participation in R+D projects; doctoral theses; training scholarships for university teaching staff for each year, number of doctorates with a quality mention and finally the patents ranking.

By indicator, UPF is the leader in three specific criteria

When all the indicators are considered in weighted terms, UPF is in first place. Furthermore, when each of the assessment criteria included in the study are considered individually, UPF also obtains an excellent score.

UPF leads the ranking in terms of the number of publications and citations in journals with an impact factor, the number of research and development projects (R+D) and the number of scholarships for training university lecturers.

In comparison with 2008, it improved considerably in terms of the production of doctoral theses, rising from fifteenth position to fifth. It declined in the research periods of its lecturers, from third to sixth place, as well as in obtaining doctorates with a quality mention, an area in which it fell from third to fifth place. This year, the ranking has also taken into consideration the number of patents registered, an indicator in which UPF is in twenty-fifth place.

At Spanish national level, the authors compare the results obtained with those in the Shanghai ranking and point out that while the University of Barcelona (UB) was the leading Spanish university in the ranking in terms of scientific productivity and UPF was in eighth place, the relative positions of the two universities have be reversed, as UB is now in fifth place and UPF is in first.

The scientific productivity ranking of Spanish public universities was financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation Universities Office, in order to create a new tool with more adequate assessment criteria. This new ranking aims to overcome the methodological problems of the previous rankings.

For further reference, see:

Gualberto Buela-Casal, Mª Paz Bermúdez, Juan Carlos Sierra, Raúl Quevedo-Blasco and Ángel Castro (2010), " Ranking 2009 en investigación de las universidades públicas españolas", Psicothema, vol. 22, no 2, 171-179.