Harvard Museum of Natural History [Photo/VCG]

Top 5 universities in Asia

1. National University of Singapore

2. Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)

3. University of Tokyo (Japan)

4. Tsinghua University (China)

5. Peking University (China)

Top 10 overall best global universities

1. Harvard University (US)

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)

3. Stanford University (US)

4. University of California—Berkeley (US)

5. University of Oxford (UK)

6. California Institute of Technology (US)

7. University of Cambridge (UK)

8. Columbia University (US)

9. Princeton University (US)

10. Johns Hopkins University (US) (tie)

10. University of Washington (US) (tie)

10. Yale University (US) (tie)

"The schools that rank the highest in the Best Global Universities rankings are those that emphasize academic research, including by partnering with international scholars to produce highly cited articles," said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at US News. "This is different from the Best Colleges rankings, which measure the overall quality of undergraduate institutions in the US and focus on student outcomes such as graduation and retention rates."

The Best Global Universities rankings are based on data and metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics InCites. They are calculated using a methodology that focuses on a school's research performance and reputation, not its specific undergraduate or graduate programs. This is a separate methodology than those used for other US News rankings such as Best Colleges and Best Graduate Schools.