Archive · 17 Nov 2025
Indian IITs and Global Universities Boycott Rankings Over Transparency Concerns
Some of the best schools in India, called IITs, and a famous university in France called Sorbonne, have decided not to take part in a big contest that ranks schools.
They think the rules of this contest are not fair.
They worry that some schools might cheat by having their own teachers cite each other's papers too much.
They also think the contest favors schools that publish a lot in English, which isn't fair to schools that are great in other languages or subjects like history.
The Indian government still wants Indian schools to be famous worldwide, but these universities believe it's more important to fix the unfairness in how they are judged.
Several Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Sorbonne University have withdrawn from global university rankings like Times Higher Education (THE) and QS.
The primary reason cited is a lack of transparency and clarity in the ranking methodologies, particularly concerning reputation scores.
Concerns include institutional self-citations, the inclusion of papers with numerous authors, and the handling of paper retractions.
Sorbonne University also noted that rankings favor English-language journals, disadvantage fields like humanities and social sciences.
Despite the boycotts, the Indian government encourages participation and aims for higher global visibility for its educational institutions.
- Who
- Several Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Sorbonne University
- What
- Have opted out of participating in global university rankings, particularly the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings.
- When
- The boycott by IITs began in 2020 and continues, with a global debate intensifying recently; Sorbonne University announced its withdrawal in September.
- Where
- This issue concerns global higher education institutions, with specific mention of Indian IITs and Sorbonne University in France.
- Why
- Concerns over the transparency, methodology, and perceived biases within university ranking systems, including reputation scores, self-citations, and focus on English-language publications.
Universities Boycotting Rankings
Indian Government's Stance
Transparency and Methodology
Universities Boycotting Rankings
Universities argue that ranking systems like Times Higher Education (THE) lack transparency in their metrics, especially concerning reputation and perception scores, which are described as 'black boxes.' Issues such as institutional self-citations, the inclusion of papers with a large number of authors, and inadequate handling of paper retractions are also concerns. Sorbonne University cited scientific, methodological, and ethical issues with reputation surveys.
Indian Government's Stance
The Indian government, through Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, emphasizes the importance of global visibility and has set targets for Indian institutions to be among the top global universities, indicating a desire for participation and high rankings.
Bias and Inclusivity
Universities Boycotting Rankings
Sorbonne University highlighted that rankings heavily favor English-language journals, which disadvantages fields like humanities and social sciences. The methodology is seen as not fully reproducible or verifiable by the universities themselves.
Indian Government's Stance
The Indian government's stance on this specific point is not directly addressed in the article, but their push for global visibility and high rankings implies a belief in the value of these rankings despite their flaws.
- Boycotting Institutions (THE Rankings)
- Several older IITs (Delhi, Kharagpur, Madras, Kanpur, Bombay, Roorkee) and Sorbonne University
- Reason for Boycott
- Lack of transparency, unclear methodology, reputation/perception scores as 'black boxes,' institutional self-citations, and potential bias
- Participating Indian Institutions (2026 THE)
- IITs Indore, Ropar, Patna, Gandhinagar, Mandi, and IISc
- Top Ranked Indian Institution (QS 2026)
- IIT Delhi (123)
- Ranking Systems Mentioned
- Times Higher Education (THE), QS World University Rankings, Shanghai Ranking (ARWU)
- India's Representation
- Second-best represented country in THE 2026 (128 ranked institutions); government aims for more