The Presence of universities in the Shanghai ranking system in the fields of medicine and related sciences and its relationship with countries R;D expenditure: with emphasis on Iranian universities

Introduction: International university ranking systems evaluate universities worldwide across various disciplines, and the factors influencing a universitiy's presence in these rankings are of great importance.This study aims to examine the representation of countries in the Shanghai academic ranking of world universities (ARWU) in the fields of medicine and related sciences (with an emphasis on Iran), and its relationship with research and development (R&D) expenditures.Methods: This study employed a descriptive-correlational research design.The statistical population included all universities listed in the Shanghai ranking in the fields of medical and health sciences.University-and country-specific data were collected from the Shanghai ranking website, while R&D expenditures data were gathered from the website of the organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD).Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and SPSS software.Results: The Shanghai ranking in the medical and health sciences category consists of six subfields.A total of 83 countries with 867 universities are represented in this ranking system.The United States, China, and the United Kingdom have the highest number of universities included.Only 13 Iranian universities are included in this ranking.The correlation test showed a positive and significant relationship between the number of universities listed and their respective countries' R&D expenditure (p-value 0.0001).Conclusion: To achieve a higher standing in the Shanghai international ranking system, Iran and other countries should strategically plan and allocate a higher percentage of their expenditures to R&D.