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Back to all metricsThe International Research Network Index is an indicator of the strength and diversity of an institution’s research network as determined by sustainable research partnerships with international higher education institutions.
It makes 5% of the QS World University Rankings score.
Summary of calculation steps
It is calculated using the following formula by dividing the distinct count of international Locations (L) listed in considered publications, by the natural logarithm of the distinct count of international Partners (P) (higher education institutions) of those locations.
The IRN Index considers only sustained partnerships, determined as those which have resulted in 3 or more joint publications in the period considered. Only the relevant publication types are considered and QS affiliation cap is applied. IRN Index is normalized by QS five Faculty areas. Each faculty area value, taken singularly, is scaled and averaged. The total average value is again scaled to produce the final indicator score published from QS.
Note: Starting with the QS World University Rankings 2027 analysis in SciVal, the Total Average values for Locations (QS) and Partners (QS) are displayed as N/A (Not applicable). These values are not used in the official QS calculation of the International Research Network (IRN) Index. This change aligns the SciVal analysis more closely with the QS methodology and helps avoid confusion about how the IRN indicator is calculated.
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