Background: Based on the plan of revolution and innovation in medical education that was issued by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the
extensive role of such programs in the qualitative promotion of universities, The academic ranking of world universities is of great importance, since the qualitative and
quantitative implementation of academic ranking can influence the realization of the university’s goals. Hence, the current study aimed at collecting data about the
academic ranking of world universities as well as its criteria and indices and their relationship with globalization.
Methods: To gain access to reputable databases in university ranking, an extensive search was performed in Google Scholar. Thereafter, after getting access to reputable
databases such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Times higher education world University ranking (THE), Quacquarelli Symonds world University rankings (QS),
Webometric, and Islamic world science citation center (ISC), data were collected and classified.
Results: Based on the collected data, the history of university rankings and ranking systems, as well as criteria and indices pertaining to the academic ranking of world
universities, was derived, and the specificities of the criteria and indices were discussed.
Conclusions: University rankings are usually performed on a combination of performance-associated indices and criteria. Efforts to achieve a desirable position based
on the criteria and indices of the ranking system play an important role in the promotion of educational quality and globalization.
Keywords: International Ranking System, Universities, Index, Globalizatio
