Duke University is North Carolina’s most productive research university – as measured by faculty scholarly productivity – according to a study released Wednesday.

Academic Analytics, which did the study, used a Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index to rank doctoral programs at research universities based on a set of statistical algorithms developed by Dr. Lawrence Martin.

The index measures the scholarly productivity of faculty based on their publications, citations of their work by others and financial and honorary awards won. Programs, not individual faculty, are rated and are aggregated to produce quantitative rankings of whole universities.

The highest-ranking large research universities in North Carolina, defined as institutions with 15 or more Ph.D. programs across multiple disciplines, according to Academic Analytics, are:

1) Duke University

2) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3) North Carolina State University

4) University of North Carolina at Greensboro

5) University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Overall, only two of North Carolina’s large research universities rank above the national average, and only Duke University cracks the top 20 large research universities nationwide, Academic Analytics said.

Within the specialized research universities category, three North Carolina-based schools are playing in the field of the top 25 nationally:

• Wake Forest University ranks #13 in Biomedical Biological Sciences, while East Carolina University's School of Medicine cracks the top 50;
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University ranks #14 in Applied Sciences; and
• Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary ranks among the top 25 universities in Humanities.

Founded in 2005, Academic Analytics, LLC, is the result of collaboration between faculty and researchers at the the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Educational Directories Unlimited.