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An American-based institute has devised a new way of assessing the research strengths of United Kingdom universities which upstages Oxbridge.

The Institute of Scientific Information, a body which monitors science publications, assessed university research in 21 fields from 1991 to 1995 and ranked institutions according to citations per paper (table 1), and the total number of citations (table 2).

In a report, to be published in the January/February 1997 edition of the ISI's journal Science Watch, the institute says: "Assessing research on the basis of citations per paper allows smaller institutions to be compared more equitably against the great in size and reputation."

While Oxford and Cambridge do make a "decent showing", other universities also do well. The Open University tops geosciences, with Oxford in second place. Dundee University also nudges ahead of Oxford in two fields - biology and biochemistry and molecular biology.

However, Oxbridge's research strength is evident in the total citations table. Cambridge comes first in seven of the 13 fields in which it appears and Oxford has six number ones and rates a place in 17 of 21 fields.

The institute warns that the rankings do not reflect departmental performance but examine published papers in fields defined by groupings of speciality journals.