Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Google Scholar Ranking of African Universities


As competition in the ranking world intensifies, Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds are  diligently promoting their various regional ranking, data processing and event management projects. The latest is THE's African summit at the University of Johannesburg.

Three weeks ago THE issued what they described as an "experimental and preliminary" ranking which consisted of 15 universities ordered according to the number of citations per paper normalised for field and year. An interesting innovation was that citations were fractionalised so that participants in large collaborative projects would be credited in proportion to their fraction of the total contributors .

This is just one indicator and it is not really a measure of research influence, but rather of research quality and it is still skewed by participation in multi-contributor papers in medicine and particle physics. It is unlikely that the University of Port Harcourt or Universite Cadi Ayyad would  be in the top ten of any other indicator.

THE have indicated that they will add another 15 names to the list at the Johannesburg summit.

The table below was compiled for the purpose of checking on the claims of THE or other rankers that might attempt to evaluate African universities. It simply counts the number of results (2012-2014: exclude citations and patents) from a query to Google Scholar. Data was compiled on the 25th and 26th of July. The criteria for inclusion were being in the top 50 of the Webometrics rankings or the 15 universities in the THE list. The top university in any country not included was added from either the Webometrics or ic4u rankings.

This database includes papers, reports, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings and so on. It is certainly not a measure of research quality but rather of the volume of any activities connected with research.  In the case of the two Kenyan universities it probably reflects the size and inclusiveness of the university repositories.

One thing about the Google scholar list is that it confirms suspicions that the quality of Egyptian universities has been underestimated by the big name rankers. For further evidence one might look at data from social media such as LinkedIn or just contrast the aspirations of Egyptian students in the revolutions of 2011 and 2013 compared with those of students at the University of Cape Town and Durban University of Technology.






RankUniversityCountryGoogle Scholar
 Results
1  University of Cape TownSouth Africa17,000
2Cairo UniversityEgypt16,800
3University of PretoriaSouth Africa16,500
4  University of NairobiKenya16,400
5University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa15,800
6University of Kwazulu-NatalSouth Africa15,500
7Stellenbosch UniversitySouth Africa14,900
8University of IbadanNigeria14,800
9University of South AfricaSouth Africa13,500
10Kenyatta UniversityKenya12,000
11University of JohannesburgSouth Africa11,200
12Makerere UniversityUganda10,400
13North West UniversitySouth Africa10,100
14University of GhanaGhana8,330
15Alexandria University Egypt7,610
16University of LagosNigeria7,220
17Rhodes UniversitySouth Africa7,210
18University of the Western CapeSouth Africa6,870
19Obafemi Awolowo UniversityNigeria6,800
20Mansoura UniversityEgypt6,480
21University of the Free StateSouth Africa6,400
22Addis Ababa UniversityEthiopia6,210
23Zagazig UniversityEgypt6,160
24American University in CairoEgypt5,770
25University of IlorinNigeria5,620
26Assiut UniversityEgypt5,580
27Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyGhana5,080
28=University of ZimbabweZimbabwe4,830
28=University of Port HarcourtNigeria4,830
30University of BotswanaBotswana4,260
31University of ZambiaZambia4,240
32University of Dar Es SalaamTanzania4,120
33University of KhartoumSudan4,110
34Suez Canal UniversityEgypt3,670
35Tanta UniversityEgypt3,600
36Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and TechnologyKenya            3,520
37Nelson Mandela Metropolitan UniversitySouth Africa3,490
38Covenant University OtaNigeria2,950
39Helwan UniversityEgypt2,940
40Benha UniversityEgypt2,570
41Minia UniversityEgypt2,390
42University of MalawiMalawi2,340
43Université Abou Bekr BelkaidAlgeria2,290
44Universityof TunisTunisia2,270
45=Université Kasdi Merbah OuarglaAlgeria2,240
45=Cape Peninsula University of TechnologySouth Africa2,240
47Université Cheikh Anta Diop de DakarSenegal1,950
48University of NamibiaNamibia1,760
49Universite de la ReunionReunion1,690
50Durban University of TechnologySouth Africa1,560
51University of MauritiusMauritius1,490
52Université d'Abomey-CalaviBenin1,460
53South Valley UniversityEgypt1,440
54Universidade Eduardo MondlaneMozambique   1,420
55Beni-Suef UniversityEgypt1,400
56Université Cadi Ayyad MarrakechMorroco1,370
57Université de OuagadougouBurkina Faso1,300
58University of RwandaRwanda1,270
59Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari BoumedieneAlgeria976
60Université de LoméTogo784
61Université de BamakoMali660
62Kafrelsheikh UniversityEgypt618
63University of SwazilandSwaziland615
64Université Félix Houphouët-BoignyIvory Coast590
65Université de KinshasaDomocratic Republic of the Congo558
66National University of LesothoLesotho555
67Université Constantine 1 Algeria468
68Bejaia UniversityAlgeria413
69Universidade Jean Piaget de Cabo VerdeCape Verde407
70Université Mohammed V SouissiTunisia361
71National Engineering School of SfaxTunisia271
72Université Marien NgouabiRepublc of Congo256
73University of LiberiaLiberia255
74Université Djillali LiabesAlgeria243
75Université Abdou Moumouni de NiameyNiger206
76Misurata UniversityLibya155
77Université Omar BongoGabon138
78University of The GambiaGambia130
79Universidade Católica de AngolaAngola115
80=Université de DschangCameroons113
80=Université de BanguiCentral African Empire113
82Université de NouakchottMauretania108
83Eritrea Institute of TechnologyEritrea76
84Université de DjiboutiDjibouti66
85Université de ToliaraMadagascar59
86Université Hassan II Ain ChockMorocco55
87University of SeychellesSeychelles52
88Mogadishu UniversitySomalia51
89Universidad Nacional de Guinea EcuatorialEquatorial Guinea40
90Universite Gamal Abdel Nasser de ConakryGuinea21
91University of MakeniSierra Leone18
92John Garang Memorial UniversitySouth Sudan12
93Hope Africa UniversityBurundi3
94Universite de Moundou Chad2




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