WSU was ranked 89th out of 540 universities in the U.S. based on the 2022 year, according to a WSU Insider article. 

Research.com measures the reputation of university scholars by multiple indices associated with publication, Christopher Keane, vice president for research at WSU, said. One of these main standard measures is the H-Index, and WSU had 6,759. 

“If you have an H-Index of a certain number, that means that you’ve got that many papers who’ve received that many citations,” Keane said. “It’s a little bit convoluted, but in research, it’s a very standard measure.”

The mean number of publications per researcher and total number of citations is another big factor in ranking, Keane said. The amount of citations per article shows importance and value in its field, gaining higher ranking the more articles that are cited.

“The research.com ranking is consistent with other highly regarded rankings, which place WSU in about the top 15%, and it’s due to the depth and breadth of the work that’s done by our faculty and staff throughout the system,” Keane said. “It’s a system-wide effort and it’s a top priority to the university.” *

Research.com identified 141 WSU scholars, with 52 being leading scientists in their chosen field, according to the article. Over 19,608 publications were made by WSU leading scientists and “a total number of citations in excess of 1.68 million.”

“We have a faculty member here in engineering, professor Yuehe Lin, who’s very well known, very highly published, and has published more than 600 articles, which is a very high number for a faculty member,” Keane said. “And they’ve been cited over 74,000 times — that’s a very high number.”

Another factor that plays into the publication piece, is the quality of the journal and how many people are subscribed to it, Keane said. The number of libraries that pick it up, the amount of time that the articles from journals are picked up in media, and Impact Factor ratings all go into the ranking as well. 

“To be a highly rated scholar, you want to publish a lot, in highly regarded journals,” Keane said.

Being ranked in the top 100 of US universities correlates well with our National Science Foundation rankings, Keane said. In 2021 WSU was 78 out of 648 in the U.S., top 12%, and 52 out of 412 in public schools, top 13%, and top 16% in research.com for domestics. 

“I sort of average roughly top 15% because there are little differences in how these things are all calculated, but I think it’s a testament to the quality of our faculty and their scholarship,” Keane said. 

These rankings said WSU has a very research-active faculty in a very diverse set of areas throughout the system, Keane said. 

For example, WSU is one of the leading recipients every year and the top few in funding for research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, numerous faculty are members of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and a “good population” of faculty are members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which is one of the highest honors, Keane said.