The universities selected for analysis in the Shanghai ranking list are compared and evaluated on the basis of six quantitative indicators. The criteria and their relative weight show the emphasis placed on research: each of the following two criteria account for 20%: “quality of staff” and “research output”. “Quality of education” and “size of institution” each accounts for 10%. For each indicator, the highest scoring institution is assigned a score of 100. The remaining institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top score. Scores for each indicator are weighted as shown below to arrive at a final overall score for the institution.
Indicators and weight in the Shanghai ranking list
| Criterion | Indicators | Weight |
| Quality of education | 1. Number of alumni who earned a Nobel Prize or a Fields Medal in mathematics. | 10 % |
| Quality of staff | 2. Number of researchers who earned a Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry, medicine or economics and/or the Fields Medal in mathematics | 20 % |
| 3. Number of highly cited researchers in the fields of life science, medicine, physics, engineering and social sciences. | 20 % | |
| Research Output | 4. Number of articles published in Nature and Science. | 20 % |
| 5. Number of articles listed in Thompson Scientific’s Science Citation Index Expanded and its Social Sciences Citation Index. Added to the article count in 2006, listings in Social Sciences Citation Index the count double. | 20 % | |
| Size of the institution | 6. The weighted score of the above five indicators divided by the number of full-time equivalent academic staff. If the number of academic staff for institutions of a country cannot be obtained, the weighted scores of the above five indicators is used. | 10 % |
Academic ranking of world universities by broad fields
The Shanghai Jiao Tong University produces also a ranking list which groups universities into five broad fields of research:
- Natural sciences and mathematics
- Engineering sciences, technical sciences and information technology
- Life sciences and agriculture
- Clinical medicine and pharmacy
- Social sciences
Except for only a few minor changes, the choice of indicators is similar to the one used in the general ranking list (see Table below).
Indicators and weight in Shanghai ranking list by field
| Criterion | Indicators | Weight |
| Alumni and awards (excl. field 2) | 1. Number of alumni who earned a Nobel Prize or the prestigious Fields Medal in mathematics. | 10 % |
| 2. Number of researchers who earned a Nobel Prize in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine or economics and/or the prestigious Fields Medal in mathematics since 1961. | 15 % | |
| Research output | 3. Number of highly cited researchers in all five subject fields. | 25 % |
| 4. Number of articles listed in Thompson Scientific’s Science Citation Index Expanded and its Social Science Citation Index. | 25 % | |
| 5. Percentage of articles published in the top 20% of scientific journals. | 25 % | |
| For field 2 only | 1. Total expenditure devoted to research in the fields of Engineering/technology and computer science. | 25 % |
Source: Shanghai Jiao Tong University