University of Toronto tops rankings of Canadian research universities

Philadelphia, PA and London, UK – Based on impact (or average citations per paper) and total citations, the University of Toronto is the “top performer” in multiple fields among Canadian research universities. This is according to the September/October issue of Science Watchthe bi-monthly newsletter published by Thomson Scientific, a business of the Thomson Corporation.

The Science Watch study used the Thomson Scientific University Science Indicators to examine the research of 46 Canadian universities in 21 scientific fields spanning 2000 to 2004.

Between 2000 and 2004, the University of Toronto produced the most work – 25,883 papers published in journals indexed by Thomson Scientific. The University of British Columbia produced the second highest number of papers, 14,819; while McGill University published 13,996.

In total citations, the University of Toronto topped 15 fields: chemistry; materials science; engineering; space science; mathematics; ecology/environment; clinical medicine; immunology; biology and biochemistry; molecular biology/genetics; neurosciences; pharmacology; psychology/psychiatry; education; and economics and business. The University of British Columbia ranked first in four fields: physics; geosciences; plant and animal science; and microbiology.

When examining impact (or average citations per paper), the University of Toronto ranked first in the five fields: engineering, microbiology, biology & biochemistry, molecular biology/genetics and education. The University of Western Ontario topped the fields of immunology, pharmacology, and economics & business.

Following is a list of the top-ranking universities in 21 scientific fields, 2000-2004, ranked by impact (average citations per paper) and total citations.

Each line shows scientific field, citations per paper (impact), and total citations:

– Physics, Carleton University (22.33), University of British Columbia (12,839)
– Chemistry, University of Calgary (5.81), University of Toronto (8,258)
– Materials Science, Dalhousie University (6.50), University of Toronto (1,356)
– Engineering, University of Toronto (2.42), University of Toronto (3,027)
– Geosciences, University of Victoria (5.56), Univ. British Columbia (2,291)
– Space Science, Univ. British Columbia (26.54), University of Toronto (5,313)
– Computer Science, University of Waterloo (1.98), University of Waterloo (581)
– Mathematics, Simon Fraser University (2.17), University of Toronto (584)
– Ecology/Environment, Trent University (6.52), University of Toronto (3,060)
– Agricultural Sciences, University of Montreal (4.73), University of Guelph (1,488)
– Plant/Animal Science, University of Waterloo (4.50), Univ. British Columbia (3,848)
– Clinical Medicine, McMaster University (10.26), University of Toronto (84,325)
– Immunology, Univ. Western Ontario (16.03), University of Toronto (7,198)
– Microbiology, University of Toronto (8.27), Univ. British Columbia (2,647)
– Biology & Biochemistry, University of Toronto (9.57), University of Toronto (22,251)
– Molec. Bio./Genetics, University of Toronto (17.25), University of Toronto (22,273)
– Neurosciences, University of Ottawa (9.33), University of Toronto (17,173)
– Pharmacology, Univ. Western Ontario (12.17), University of Toronto (2,787)
– Psychology/Psychiatry, Dalhousie University (5.86), University of Toronto (7,225)
– Education, University of Toronto (2.05), University of Toronto (268)
– Economics & Business, Univ. Western Ontario (2.25), University of Toronto (579)