This study examines the evolution of Ibero-American universities represented in the ARWU-GRAS Communication category between 2022 and 2025, encompassing editions before and after the 2024 methodological revision. Using ARWU-GRAS institutional data and bibliometric records from Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports, the study analyses institutional representation, JCR-Q1 publication profiles, thematic structures, and co-authorship patterns, and compares the pre-reform ARWU-GRAS indicator profiles of institutions that persisted in 2024 with those that exited. Ibero-American representation decreased from 15 universities in 2023 to seven in 2024, while the worldwide total declined from 300 to 200, reducing the Ibero-American share from 5.0% to 3.5%. The same seven institutions remained represented in 2025. Exploratory persistence–exit comparisons showed differentiated pre-reform ARWU-GRAS indicator profiles: TOP provided the clearest differentiation, Q1 showed a substantial difference with greater statistical uncertainty, and CNCI and International Collaboration showed weaker differentiation. Publication, thematic, and co-authorship analyses indicated both continuity and variation across overlapping bibliometric windows. The findings are interpreted as longitudinal associations rather than causal effects. The study contributes to subject-level ranking research by examining institutional persistence and exit across a methodological transition.
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Aguaded et al. (2026) studied this question.
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