This paper deals with a proposal for the evaluation of scientific research in Italian universities from a regional perspective. A synthetic indicator based on the Wroclaw taxonomic method was constructed using the percentile rankings of 61 Italian universities in three notable international rankings and in the ANVUR-VQR assessment. Despite the simplicity of the methodological approach used to generate global rankings, we emphasize that a ranking is not able to capture the complexity of a multidimensional phenomenon that depends on both endogenous and exogenous variables of a university. Rankings are often criticized by academics but have a strong influence on stakeholders, potential students, lecturers, policy makers and funding bodies.