THE World University Rankings by Subject ranks universities across 11 subject areas. The results of this ranking are based on five groups of indicators including Citations, Industry income, International outlook, Research and Teaching. THE uses data sources from survey (done by THE), Scopus database (by Elsevier Publishing House) and data provided by higher education institutions themselves.

The Social Sciences subject table features the universities that are leading across Communication and Media Studies, Politics and International Studies (including Development Studies), Sociology and Geography. Compared to THE World University Rankings by Subject 2021, the 2022 Social Sciences subject table listed 870 higher education institutions (an increase by 79 institutions compared to the 2021 ranking). This table listed three Vietnamese educational institutions, namely Ton Duc Thang University, VNU, Hanoi and VNU, Ho Chi Minh City for the first time.

To date, THE has announced the rankings for 10 out of the 11 subjects. In particular, VNU has 4 ranked subjects:

- Physical Sciences was placed in Group 601-800 globally;

-  Engineering was placed in Group 601 - 800 globally;

- Computer Sciences was placed in Group 601-800 globally; and 

-  Social Sciences was placed in Group 501-600 globally.