Introduction: This study aims to examine the actual conditions of Institutional Research (IR) activities and operations and explore the differences between the items analyzed by the IR organization and those that nursing faculty members would like to compare with other Japanese nursing universities.　Method: We conducted a questionnaire survey among 48 nursing universities in Japan (424 instructors) in December 2020.　Results: Of the total 116 participants, the number of participants who responded to being aware of both the name and role of IR and having an IR organization in their universities was 51 (44.0%) and 82 (70.7%), respectively. Teaching-related items ranked high in both the items analyzed by the IR organization and those that nursing faculty members would like to compare with other nursing universities. For the survey of admission applicants and graduates, the degree of the desire to be compared with other nursing universities was higher than that of being analyzed by the IR organization (p<0.05).　Discussion: Although a greater number of IR organizations are being established, awareness of these remains low within Japanese nursing universities. Additionally, there are differences between the items analyzed by the IR organization and those that nursing faculty members would like to compare with other Japanese nursing universities. Therefore, the goal is to achieve a common understanding of IR activities and operations at each nursing university.