For the fifth consecutive year, McMaster University has been named one of the Top 100 universities in the world — one of only four Canadian universities to make the list.

The annual poll published by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University bases its findings on several criteria of academic and research performance, including Nobel Prize winners, frequently cited researchers, scholarly articles that appear in Nature and Science, and the per capita performance of the institution. To view the list of the Top 500 World Universities, please click here.

McMaster is listed 87th in the world ranking (up from 90th position last year) and 52nd in the regional ranking (up from 54th spot last year). The regional ranking includes North and Latin American universities. The University of British Columbia, McGill University and the University of Toronto were the other Canadian universities on the list.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University established the rankings to assess the performance of Chinese universities relative to their global peers. In recent years, it has become a widely followed measure as a high ranking in the survey is considered a huge boost to a university because it draws the attention of potential faculty and student recruits the world over.