摘要：The purpose of this study is to inform higher education politicians and managers about prior indicators to higher achievement in the rankings through forming an expanded-indicator set including indicators in various rankings and then exploring the differences originated by each indicator on the rankings. The study was designed as quantitative research to examine point indicators based on the secondary use of data published by different international university rankings. The points from only four selected international university rankings (ARWU, QS, THE, and URAP) were included into the data set. The quantitative data set was analysed to explore the differences between the selected rankings and the rankings formed according to the expanded-indicator set and to examine the differences in the rankings based on the expanded-indicator set if the points of each indicator group exclude. The analysis results showed that, to expedite the success level of universities in international rankings, there is a need for the production of publications to be cited and the practices that will increase both the reputation in academic world and the prestige in business world. In this sense, rather than policies which increase the number of publications but generate questions about the quality, it is important to establish policies that will contribute to the costs of academics for uluslarapublications in prestigious scientific journals and to improve reward systems that encourage publications in these journals. In addition, expanding opportunities for projects with international partners and support programs for cooperation with industry might contribute to the success level of universities in rankings. Furthermore, in order to gain higher reputation/prestige point, university managers should ensure the diversification of the curriculum implemented in their institutions with the updated courses in line with sectoral needs.
