Study on the performance of medical disciplines in Chinese universities based on the data of ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects

Abstract This study systematically analyzes the trends in the number of medical-related disciplines from Chinese universities listed in the ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) over the past five years and their global standing. The GRAS ranking, with its transparent data, clear evaluation index system, and entirely objective metrics, can provide higher education administrators, policy makers, and researchers with effective data on the strengths of disciplines, offering a reference for the future construction of medical disciplines. A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate the frequency with which medical-related subjects from universities in the mainland of China in the GRAS ranking from 2020 to 2024. The development of Chinese universities in the field of medicine shows a positive trend, but there is still an obvious gap compared to the top level on a global scale in some disciplines. Properly grasping discipline ranking data can provide valuable insights into the underlying dynamics of a university’s discipline development and support the exploration of more scientific methods for discipline evaluation, thereby contributing to the construction of a top-tier discipline ecosystem.