India tops Papers per Faculty in QS Asia '26

THERE ARE 16 INDIAN UNIVERSITIES IN THE TOP 30, BUT DOES THIS METRIC MATTER?

- VIKRAM CHAUDHARY

INTHE QS Asia University Rankings 2026, released last week, even though India added 137 institutes to the list, taking its total to 294 (second highest after China’s 395), two concerning areas were:

1. There was no Indian institute inthe top 50; and

2. Seven IITs — Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Roorkee,and Guwahati — and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore sawa drop in their positions.

But a deep dive into the metrics reveals a success story: India has emerged as Asia’s undisputed leader in research productivity.

Papers per Faculty

In the ‘Papers per Faculty’ component of the QS Asia University Rankings 2026, there are 16 Indian universities in the top 30, 26 in the top 50,and 45 in the top 100.

QS says this component measures the volume of research publications against the size of a university’s academic staff.