A data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to evaluate the research efficiency of Iranian universities

University rankings are often based on measurable outputs. Research institutes and universities are expected to be evaluated based on their capabilities, inputs, and outputs and it is important to do balanced and comprehensive evaluations. Criticisms towards global ranking systems have led them to reform their methodologies, consider the differences in the mission of universities, normalize data based on subjects, and consider the size and age of universities. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is a complementary tool to increase the ranking transparency. This study aimed to evaluate the research efficiency of Iranian universities ranked in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by using the DEA method and to discover the relationship between universities' performance, their rank, research scores, and their citation score in the Times Higher Education Ranking System. The research population included 47 universities. Three inputs and 15 outputs were used in different models. The Microsoft Excel and DEAP software were used to extract the data, define the scenarios and analyze the data. The results showed the relatively good performance of the universities. There was no relationship between the universities’ efficiency score and their research score in the Times Ranking System, but a significant positive relationship was observed between the efficiency score and the universities’ rank and the citation score in the Times Ranking System (0.719 and 0.613, respectively). It seems that the DEA method can be used as a complementary tool to evaluate the technical performance and allocate funds to universities and research institutes