Ahmad Ahmadi - Ph.D. in Health Policy, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacoeconomics, and Management, School of Pharmacy, International Campus, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mansoureh Taghavinia - Ph.D. Candidate of Medical Education, Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Kamran Soltani Arabshahi - Internal Medicine Specialist, Professor, Department of Medical Education, Head of Center for Educational Research in medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Sadegh Ghasemi - Ph.D. in Biomechanics, Associate Professor, Department of Ergonomics, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Background Based on the plan of revolution and innovation in medical education that was issued by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the extensive role of such programs in the qualitative promotion of universities, The academic ranking of world universities is of great importance, since the qualitative and quantitative implementation of academic ranking can influence the realization of the university’s goals. Hence, the current study aimed at collecting data about the academic ranking of world universities as well as its criteria and indices and their relationship with globalization. Methods To gain access to reputable databases in university ranking, an extensive search was performed in Google Scholar. Thereafter, after getting access to reputable databases such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Times higher education world University ranking (THE), Quacquarelli Symonds world University rankings (QS), Webometric, and Islamic world science citation center (ISC), data were collected and classified. Results Based on the collected data, the history of university rankings and ranking systems, as well as criteria and indices pertaining to the academic ranking of world universities, was derived, and the specificities of the criteria and indices were discussed. Conclusions University rankings are usually performed on a combination of performance-associated indices and criteria. Efforts to achieve a desirable position based on the criteria and indices of the ranking system play an important role in the promotion of educational quality and globalization.

International Ranking System, Universities, Index, Globalization