University Rankings Under Scrutiny – Open Access as a Performance Indicator and Institutional Perspectives from Germany and the Netherlands

Slides from the interactive online workshop "University Rankings Under Scrutiny – Open Access as a Performance Indicator and Institutional Perspectives from Germany and the Netherlands", held online on 3 November 2026 (10:00–12:30 CET). University rankings increasingly shape institutional strategy, yet it is often unclear how well they capture what matters, and what happens when Open Access is used as a performance indicator. The workshop brought together professionals from German and Dutch universities to critically examine how rankings are constructed, how they are used in institutional decision-making, and how institutions can respond strategically. This deposit combines the slides of three short presentations: Open Access in Institutional Rankings (Sophia Dörner, Göttingen State and University Library / OA Datenpraxis): findings on how university rankings incorporate Open Access as a comparative dimension, which data sources and methodological choices underlie them, and what this means for institutions. Dutch Perspectives on University Rankings: Lessons Learned from Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) (Tung Tung Chan, Erasmus University Rotterdam): how Dutch institutions engage with university rankings, and lessons learned about working with and pushing back against ranking systems. German Perspective on University Rankings (Dr. Sarah Spiegel, German Rectors' Conference, HRK): problems with university rankings identified through the HRK service project and their implications for German institutions. Each presentation was followed by a discussion round. The workshop was jointly organised by Sophia Dörner (SUB Göttingen, OA Datenpraxis), Sarah Spiegel (HRK), Tung Tung Chan (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Thed van Leeuwen (CWTS Leiden, BUA Research Fellow).