Boston University’s School of Medicine rose in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings published Thursday.

BUSM was ranked 31st in the list of best research medical schools in the U.S., rising three places from 34th place in 2011.

“We are pleased that our ranking in U.S. News & World Report has moved up, recognizing the exemplary work of the faculty and staff of the medical school,” said Karen Antman, dean of BUSM and provost of Boston University Medical Campus. “BUSM is committed to providing an excellent educational experience to its medical students.”

BUSM is ranked among Dartmouth Medical School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Other notable rankings include Brown University, which ranked 35th, and Tufts University, which ranked 44th. New York University was 26th and the University of Massachusetts Worcester was 48th.

Specifically, BUSM’s ranking in primary care rose from number 47 to 31, and the specialty program in drug and alcohol abuse is number 10.

Research school rankings were based on an average of eight indicators, including peer assessments by deans and administrators, scores completed by residency directors, research activity as noted by grants awarded to a school as well as grants per faculty member, student selectivity, mean undergraduate GPA and acceptance rates.

Specialty rankings such as the drug and alcohol abuse program were based entirely on ratings by medical school deans and senior faculty from schools surveyed. Only 10 schools are ranked, offering the top 10 schools within their specialty despite the number surveyed. A school must receive a minimum of seven votes to be ranked within a specialty.

While 149 medical and osteopathic schools qualified for the rankings with full accreditations, only 114 schools provided the data needed to calculate research rankings.