The Best Global Universities ranking is issued annually by U.S. News and World Report to rank world universities. It began by ranking US universities in 1983. On October 28, 2014, it started its world ranking with 500 universities in 49 countries. The inaugural results of the Best Global Universities were published without prior announcement. Then, the magazine explained that those results were a trial so that the ranking can join the field of the global university rankings. Next year, 2016, when the rankings were pre-announced, the periodical formalized the Global University Ranking. It became a part of its regular annual programs. It made its ranking methodology official depending on 10 different indicators that measure universities' academic performance and reputations. After that, the ranking was revised and expanded to include 1,500 higher education institutions in 81 countries. Now, it includes five regional and 28 subject rankings based on 13 indicators and data. The U.S. News global ranking has a different methodology from its ranking of American institutions; world universities are ranked based on indicators such as research reputation, academic publications, and the number of highly cited papers.