<p>Analysis of the ranking from a Duke researcher:
<a href="http://www.duke.edu/%7Emyhan/feng.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.duke.edu/~myhan/feng.pdf</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
First, the fact that in this ranking, SJTU is in the 404-502 category tells me that it is probably as unbiased as can be.
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</p>
<p>There is actually an engineering/technology ranking from the website.
[url=<a href="http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ARWU-FIELD2008/ENG2008.htm%5Dfield%5B/url">http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ARWU-FIELD2008/ENG2008.htm]field[/url</a>]
We can see USC is at 11th globally </p>
<p>This ranking is designed to measure research ability. But the overall ranking is more about science subjects (Nobel prize, Sci&Nature publications carry great weight). Since USC is not so well-known for science research, it is very reasonable to see USC ranking lower than expected.</p>
<p>The list from post #22 seems pretty plausible to me, in terms of engineering research rankings.</p>