<p>All rankings list their methods. What I have always done is offer an analysis of these underlying figures. In the case of the figures I cited, they are highly valid. In the case of the WM rankings, the underlying figures are not only mostly unavailable for readers to look at or find for themselves, but also completely flawed in many different ways. In fact, they are so flawed that they have attracted the attention of several internationally-renowned academics working in the area of statistics - specifically, statistics that are utterly flawed and misused. Look them up in the Chronicle of Higher Education and you’ll find several scholarly articles on the topic, such as one by Professor Rebecca Goldin, a well-known researcher at George Washington University.</p>