Table 2. Non-parametric analyses: Associations between the ranking criteria of the 198 unique PhD applications and researcher metrics.
| Variable | Number of publications | Number of citations | Number of citations per publication | Average impact factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student research training degree | P = 0.361 | P = 0.383 | P = 0.429 | P = 0.199 |
| 1st class honours, top | 2.0 (0.0, 4.0) | 2.0 (0.0, 19.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 3.9) | 1.3 (0.0, 3.0) |
| 1st class honours, middle | 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 2.0 (0.0, 18.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 5.9) | 1.0 (0.0, 2.5) |
| 1st class honours, lower | 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 10.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.3) | 0.3 (0.0, 2.4) |
| 2nd class honours | 0.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 30.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 9.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.2) |
| Student undergraduate rank | P = 0.588 | P = 0.668 | P = 0.643 | P = 0.420 |
| GPA≥80% plus prizes | 2.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 3.0 (0.0, 19.0) | 1.2 (0.0, 6.0) | 2.2 (0.0, 3.0) |
| GPA≥80% | 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 9.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.4) | 0.8 (0.0, 3.0) |
| GPA≥70% and <80% | 2.0 (0.0, 4.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 18.0) | 0.3 (0.0, 4.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 2.6) |
| GPA≥60% and <70% | 0.5 (0.0, 2.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 15.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.6) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.5) |
| Student had prior publication | P = 0.551 | P = 0.436 | P = 0.545 | P = 0.809 |
| Yes | 1.0 (0.0, 4.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 20.0) | 0.7 (0.0, 4.5) | 1.1 (0.0, 2.3) |
| No | 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 14.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 4.5) | 0.7 (0.0, 2.8) |
| Student academic merit | P = 0.017 | P = 0.080 | P = 0.082 | P = 0.001 |
| 1st quartile | 2.0 (1.0, 5.0)d | 4.0 (0.0, 19.0) | 1.7 (0.0, 5.2) | 2.2 (0.6, 3.3)d# |
| 2nd quartile | 0.5 (0.0, 4.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 17.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.9) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.3) |
| 3rd quartile | 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 29.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 5.0) | 0.9 (0.0, 2.4) |
| 4th quartile | 0.0 (0.0, 2.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 10.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.2) |
| Supervisor in institute or research centre | P<0.001 | P<0.001 | P<0.001 | P<0.001 |
| Yes | 2.0 (0.0, 4.0)c† | 3.0 (0.0, 23.0)c† | 1.0 (0.0, 5.7)c† | 1.4 (0.0, 3.0)c† |
| No | 0.0 (0.0, 2.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) |
| Supervisor academic level at application | P = 0.107 | P = 0.482 | P = 0.524 | P = 0.125 |
| Full-professor | 2.0 (0.0, 4.0) | 3.0 (0.0, 18.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 4.8) | 1.2 (0.0, 2.6) |
| Associate professor | 1.0 (0.0, 3.5) | 1.5 (0.0, 18.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 4.4) | 1.2 (0.0, 3.0) |
| Senior lecturer or lecturer | 0.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 12.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.9) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.5) |
| Supervisory team achieved maximum score | P<0.001 | P = 0.003 | P<0.001 | P<0.001 |
| Yes | 2.0 (0.0, 5.0)c* | 4.0 (0.0, 20.0)b* | 1.5 (0.0, 5.9)c | 1.5 (0.0, 3.0)c† |
| No | 0.0 (0.0, 2.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.1) |
| Alignment of research achieved maximum score | P = 0.273 | P = 0.233 | P = 0.146 | P = 0.123 |
| Yes | 1.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 18.0) | 1.0 (0.0, 4.8) | 1.0 (0.0, 2.8) |
| No | 0.0 (0.0, 3.5) | 0.0 (0.0, 11.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 3.2) | 0.0 (0.0, 2.1) |
| Scholarship awarded | P<0.001 | P<0.001 | P<0.001 | P<0.001 |
| Yes | 2.0 (1.0, 6.0)c‡ | 8.5 (0.0, 35.0)c† | 2.4 (0.0, 5.8)c* | 2.2 (0.7, 3.2)c‡ |
| No | 0.0 (0.0, 2.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 6.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 1.4) | 0.0 (0.0, 1.7) |
Data for publication numbers, citations and impact factors are median (25th percentile, 75th percentile). For these variables, significance of difference is indicated by a P<0.05, b P<0.01, c P<0.001 compared to ‘no’ and d P<0.05 compared to all other quartiles. P-values next to parameter name are from the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance test. S2 Table presents the effect sizes for these analyses.