how they stack up

[GoodTaste]

COVID vaccines: head-to-head comparison reveals how they stack up
Comparison of the immune response to four prominent COVID-19 vaccines is among the most thorough so far, authors say.

Source: Nature

Does "how they stack up" mean "how they are put into an order (like who is in the 1st place and who's in the 2nd and the 3rd"?

 

[tedmc]

How they compare. It is clear enough from the dictionaries.

 

[GoodTaste]

Using a North American informal phrase in formal scientific headline is far from being clear.

 

[emsr2d2]

Using a North American informal phrase in formal scientific headline is far from being clear.

It's commonly used in BrE too.

 

[Tarheel]

@GoodTaste Please note that the word "comparison" is there both before and after the phrase in question.