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Colombia vs Ghana

On research quality in 2022-now, Ghana ranks #58 in the world and Colombia #59, of 189 countries. Colombia stands higher in 13 of the 23 fields both publish in, Ghana in 10.

Research profiles alike: 0.78very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Colombia

World rank, 2022-now
#59
#47 all time
Works, 2022-now
87k
fractional
Top-10% rate
7.4%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
72%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Life-span and Life-course Studies, Horticulture, General Social Sciences.

Ghana

World rank, 2022-now
#58
#68 all time
Works, 2022-now
27k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.8%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
65%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Library and Information Sciences, Horticulture, Research and Theory.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Ghana leads on 6 of 9 measures: research quality, excellence for its fields, top-10% rate, citations per work, international co-authorship and growth. Colombia leads on 2 of 9 measures: output and open access. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100.

Colombia 21 level6 Ghana
  1. #59Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#58
  2. 0.70×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.00×
  3. 87kOutputfractional works, 2022-now27k
  4. 7.4%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited10.8%
  5. 5.3Citations per workall time, per fractional work12.1
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 72%Open accessof its works free to read, all time65%
  8. 18%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time33%
  9. -5%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+42%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Colombia stands higher in 13 of 23 fields, Ghana in 10. Colombia leads most in Earth and Planetary Sciences (#44 against #58); Ghana leads most in Nursing (#40 against #52). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Colombia 1310 Ghana
  1. #48Agricultural and Biological Sciences#43
  2. #52Arts and Humanities#55
  3. #68Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#61
  4. #53Business, Management and Accounting#46
  5. #58Chemistry-
  6. #63Computer Science#62
  7. #56Decision Sciences#45
  8. #43Dentistry-
  9. #44Earth and Planetary Sciences#58
  10. #54Economics, Econometrics and Finance#41
  11. #52Energy#57
  12. #59Engineering#72
  13. #41Environmental Science#52
  14. #54Health Professions#42
  15. #53Immunology and Microbiology#40
  16. #76Materials Science#70
  17. #59Mathematics#60
  18. #57Medicine#58
  19. #52Neuroscience-
  20. #52Nursing#40
  21. #53Physics and Astronomy-
  22. #54Psychology#58
  23. #39Social Sciences#59

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Colombia rankGhana rank Colombia top 10%Ghana top 10% Colombia worksGhana works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #48 #43 7.6% 11.0% 6.4k 2.3k
Arts and Humanities #52 #55 8.7% 11.5% 2.5k 746
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #68 #61 4.9% 9.3% 2.7k 637
Business, Management and Accounting #53 #46 9.5% 12.9% 3.6k 2.3k
Chemistry #58 - 7.3% - 638 -
Computer Science #63 #62 7.4% 10.8% 4.6k 1.4k
Decision Sciences #56 #45 9.3% 9.5% 599 458
Dentistry #43 - 7.3% - 427 -
Earth and Planetary Sciences #44 #58 6.2% 11.4% 1.2k 207
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #54 #41 8.8% 13.1% 2.9k 1.6k
Energy #52 #57 9.5% 9.8% 942 235
Engineering #59 #72 6.0% 8.0% 6.6k 1.7k
Environmental Science #41 #52 6.8% 9.1% 5.9k 1.9k
Health Professions #54 #42 7.1% 13.2% 3.7k 1.1k
Immunology and Microbiology #53 #40 5.5% 12.1% 804 295
Materials Science #76 #70 4.0% 7.5% 1.1k 206
Mathematics #59 #60 6.0% 11.1% 695 277
Medicine #57 #58 5.0% 10.1% 17k 4.3k
Neuroscience #52 - 5.5% - 788 -
Nursing #52 #40 5.7% 11.6% 388 396
Physics and Astronomy #53 - 4.6% - 789 -
Psychology #54 #58 7.1% 8.7% 3.4k 1k
Social Sciences #39 #59 10.6% 11.6% 19k 5k

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Colombia

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Education7,314▲ 4.4×152 topics
  2. Epidemiology5,438▲ 1.41×138 topics
  3. Sustainability4,882▲ 2.1×130 topics
  4. Globalization4,810▲ 2.5×172 topics
  5. Climate Change4,049▲ 1.54×128 topics
  6. Innovation3,967▲ 4.0×82 topics
  7. Public Health3,428▲ 2.4×75 topics
  8. Human Rights3,308▲ 3.3×86 topics
  9. Sustainable Development2,983▲ 1.97×107 topics
  10. Latin America2,901▲ 16×23 topics
  11. Educational Technology2,571▲ 2.2×47 topics
  12. Mental Health2,476▲ 1.79×48 topics
  13. Health Promotion2,470▲ 8.1×18 topics
  14. Digital Marketing2,451▲ 6.5×6 topics
  15. Teacher Training2,445▲ 4.1×28 topics
  16. Knowledge Management2,386▲ 4.4×42 topics
  17. Social Responsibility2,274▲ 10×13 topics
  18. Small and Medium Enterprises2,224▲ 13×10 topics
  19. Competitiveness2,221▲ 29×8 topics
  20. E-Learning2,139▲ 2.3×25 topics
  21. Biodiversity1,978▲ 2.7×37 topics
  22. Urban Development1,926▲ 5.6×21 topics
  23. Pedagogy1,924▲ 4.0×26 topics
  24. Economic Impact1,920▲ 3.7×13 topics
  25. Innovation Ecosystems1,883▲ 19×4 topics
  26. Public Policy1,847▲ 4.0×34 topics
  27. Nutrition1,794▲ 4.2×18 topics
  28. Globalization Effects1,727▲ 26×3 topics
  29. Tourism Management1,719▲ 25×2 topics
  30. City Branding1,716▲ 29×1 topic
  31. Psychopharmacology Education1,716▲ 29×1 topic
  32. Social Impact1,687▲ 4.5×24 topics
  33. Communication1,663▲ 5.5×23 topics
  34. Community Participation1,609▲ 4.7×16 topics
  35. Inclusive Education1,570▲ 4.5×19 topics
  36. Rural Development1,502▲ 4.5×22 topics
  37. Distance Learning1,493▲ 4.4×13 topics
  38. Colombia1,408▲ 86×2 topics
  39. Violence1,246▲ 8.8×14 topics
  40. University Students1,214▲ 22×2 topics

Ghana

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology1,614▲ 1.30×136 topics
  2. Sustainability1,476▲ 1.93×109 topics
  3. Climate Change1,179▲ 1.39×111 topics
  4. Globalization1,054▲ 1.72×132 topics
  5. Environmental Impact932▲ 1.75×67 topics
  6. Renewable Energy815▲ 1.80×53 topics
  7. Sustainable Development808▲ 1.65×89 topics
  8. Education786▲ 1.46×101 topics
  9. Economic Growth786▲ 3.1×34 topics
  10. Social Capital700▲ 4.3×21 topics
  11. Public Health690▲ 1.52×65 topics
  12. Mental Health661▲ 1.48×43 topics
  13. Risk Management650▲ 4.4×18 topics
  14. Supply Chain Management597▲ 2.1×26 topics
  15. Maternal Mortality544▲ 7.8×5 topics
  16. Corporate Governance529▲ 2.3×27 topics
  17. Poverty Reduction517▲ 13×7 topics
  18. Consumer Behavior514▲ 2.6×18 topics
  19. Community Health Workers479▲ 17×2 topics
  20. Biodiversity Conservation456▲ 3.9×17 topics
  21. Health Inequalities456▲ 12×5 topics
  22. Urbanization456▲ 3.6×13 topics
  23. Child Development449▲ 3.5×8 topics
  24. Leadership447▲ 2.9×35 topics
  25. Socio-economic Factors435▲ 12×3 topics
  26. Child Mortality432▲ 19×1 topic
  27. Health Systems432▲ 19×1 topic
  28. Smallholder Farmers429▲ 6.5×6 topics
  29. Social Networks417▲ 4.9×13 topics
  30. Governance412▲ 4.0×15 topics
  31. Development397▲ 3.6×19 topics
  32. Sustainable Agriculture395▲ 4.1×15 topics
  33. Gender Inequality381▲ 8.8×6 topics
  34. Global Burden of Disease372▲ 4.8×4 topics
  35. Poverty Alleviation372▲ 12×3 topics
  36. Vulnerability370▲ 5.1×8 topics
  37. ICT305▲ 7.3×5 topics
  38. Maternal and Child Undernutrition305▲ 12×1 topic
  39. Water Sanitation Hygiene305▲ 12×1 topic
  40. Institutional Quality302▲ 9.2×3 topics

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

Colombia has out-published Ghana every year since 1980.

still counting10k20k30kColombia23k in 2025Ghana7,317 in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting0.20%0.40%0.60%Colombia0.38% in 2025Ghana0.12% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting5%10%15%Ghana11.1% in 2025Colombia7.3% in 2025200020102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Colombia 05 level0 Ghana
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 0In the top 1000
  3. 0In the top 5000
  4. 0In the top 1,0000
  5. #51Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#51

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Colombia or Ghana?

Colombia publishes 3.3× as much research as Ghana in 2022-now (87k against 27k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Colombia or Ghana?

10.8% of Ghana's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 7.4% for Colombia.

Is Colombia or Ghana growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +42% against 2018-21 for Ghana, and -5% for Colombia.

Which has more open access research, Colombia or Ghana?

72% of Colombia's research is free to read, against 65% of Ghana's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Colombia or Ghana?

Colombia holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Ghana 0; in the top 1,000 it is 0 against 0.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Colombia

  1. 1Universidad de Antioquia7.8% top 10% · 5k works
  2. 2Universidad del Rosario11.3% top 10% · 1.5k works
  3. 3Universidad del Valle6.4% top 10% · 2.8k works
  4. 4Universidad de La Sabana10.4% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas6.8% top 10% · 1.4k works
  6. 6Universidad de Ibagué0.7% top 10% · 1.8k works

Ghana

  1. 1University of Ghana11.0% top 10% · 5.3k works
  2. 2University of Cape Coast12.8% top 10% · 2.8k works
  3. 3Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology10.8% top 10% · 4.5k works
  4. 4University for Development Studies11.1% top 10% · 1.9k works
  5. 5University of Education, Winneba8.0% top 10% · 1.4k works
  6. 6Takoradi Technical University13.8% top 10% · 404 works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Colombia

  1. 1 J. C. Sanabria #4,579 worldwide 63k citations · 605 works
  2. 2 Carlos Andrés Castañeda-Orjuela #12,642 worldwide 236k citations · 248 works
  3. 3 Stijn Hantson #16,049 worldwide 9.4k citations · 203 works
  4. 4 D. J. Karmgard #18,328 worldwide 23k citations · 315 works
  5. 5 Luis Felipe Reyes #26,576 worldwide 33k citations · 298 works

Ghana

  1. 1 Richard Gyan Aboagye #22,347 worldwide 39k citations · 250 works
  2. 2 Emmanuel Joel Aikins Abakah #27,882 worldwide 4.7k citations · 132 works
  3. 3 Martin Amogre Ayanore #33,207 worldwide 54k citations · 181 works
  4. 4 Robert Kokou Dowou #33,244 worldwide 25k citations · 109 works
  5. 5 Hubert Amu #37,771 worldwide 49k citations · 190 works