The University of Guelph has been ranked as one of the top institutions in the world for academic leadership in the field of real estate research, according to a study featured in the Journal of Real Estate Literature [1]. The "Real Estate Academic Leadership (REAL) Rankings" placed the University of Guelph as tied for 25 amongst all of the universities in the world [2], based on measures of research output. Professor Jian Zhou (College of Business and Economics) was recognized in the study for his contributions to innovation and thought leadership in the field of real estate, ranking 31st in the world. Zhou has recently accepted an invitation to sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Property Research, based in Europe.

The REAL rankings are based on the number of publications made by researchers (between 2011 and 2015) in the top peer-reviewed real estate journals, including the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, the Journal of Real Estate Research and Real Estate Economics. A full discussion of REAL’s methodology and rankings is featured in the Journal of Real Estate Literature, Volume 23, Issue 2, 2015.