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Ecuador vs Kenya

On research quality in 2022-now, Ecuador ranks #55 in the world and Kenya #57, of 189 countries. Ecuador stands higher in 16 of the 22 fields both publish in, Kenya in 6.

Research profiles alike: 0.67similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Ecuador

World rank, 2022-now
#55
#54 all time
Works, 2022-now
65k
fractional
Top-10% rate
8.4%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
79%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology, Life-span and Life-course Studies, Horticulture.

Kenya

World rank, 2022-now
#57
#58 all time
Works, 2022-now
29k
fractional
Top-10% rate
5.7%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
70%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Safety Research, Business and International Management, Library and Information Sciences.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Ecuador leads on 5 of 9 measures: research quality, output, top-10% rate, open access and growth. Kenya leads on 2 of 9 measures: citations per work and international co-authorship. The two are level on excellence for its fields and institutions in the world top 100.

Ecuador 52 level2 Kenya
  1. #55Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#57
  2. 0.74×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected0.73×
  3. 65kOutputfractional works, 2022-now29k
  4. 8.4%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited5.7%
  5. 3.4Citations per workall time, per fractional work12.3
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 79%Open accessof its works free to read, all time70%
  8. 21%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time26%
  9. +59%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+28%

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?

Ecuador stands higher in 16 of 22 fields, Kenya in 6. Ecuador leads most in Economics, Econometrics and Finance (#36 against #65); Kenya leads most in Immunology and Microbiology (#36 against #52). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Ecuador 166 Kenya
  1. #55Agricultural and Biological Sciences#39
  2. #50Arts and Humanities#64
  3. #64Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#57
  4. #50Business, Management and Accounting#69
  5. #48Computer Science#73
  6. #57Decision Sciences#66
  7. #42Dentistry-
  8. #65Earth and Planetary Sciences-
  9. #36Economics, Econometrics and Finance#65
  10. #46Energy-
  11. #61Engineering#79
  12. #57Environmental Science#58
  13. #38Health Professions#57
  14. #52Immunology and Microbiology#36
  15. #72Materials Science#77
  16. #68Mathematics#52
  17. #72Medicine#44
  18. #49Neuroscience-
  19. #54Nursing#41
  20. #58Physics and Astronomy-
  21. #50Psychology#70
  22. #43Social Sciences#71

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 Ecuador rankKenya rank Ecuador top 10%Kenya top 10% Ecuador worksKenya works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #55 #39 7.5% 9.6% 4.2k 3.1k
Arts and Humanities #50 #64 9.4% 7.2% 1k 720
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #64 #57 5.8% 8.2% 1.1k 705
Business, Management and Accounting #50 #69 10.4% 2.6% 3.8k 3.3k
Computer Science #48 #73 8.8% 4.8% 5.9k 1.3k
Decision Sciences #57 #66 6.7% 3.1% 282 710
Dentistry #42 - 2.1% - 788 -
Earth and Planetary Sciences #65 - 5.4% - 395 -
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #36 #65 10.5% 3.4% 4.8k 1.8k
Energy #46 - 10.0% - 598 -
Engineering #61 #79 5.6% 5.8% 3.6k 1.4k
Environmental Science #57 #58 8.0% 6.5% 3.4k 2k
Health Professions #38 #57 6.8% 7.5% 4.4k 1.1k
Immunology and Microbiology #52 #36 5.4% 9.0% 386 308
Materials Science #72 #77 7.2% 5.0% 347 232
Mathematics #68 #52 7.3% 5.7% 219 352
Medicine #72 #44 3.8% 7.1% 8.5k 3.9k
Neuroscience #49 - 5.2% - 385 -
Nursing #54 #41 3.3% 6.2% 269 393
Physics and Astronomy #58 - 5.4% - 200 -
Psychology #50 #70 8.0% 5.0% 3.2k 1.1k
Social Sciences #43 #71 11.7% 4.7% 16k 6.1k

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.

Ecuador

▲ 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. Education9,461▲ 7.3×130 topics
  2. Small and Medium Enterprises5,412▲ 40×9 topics
  3. Digital Marketing5,405▲ 18×6 topics
  4. Innovation5,392▲ 6.9×75 topics
  5. Social Responsibility4,765▲ 27×11 topics
  6. Innovation Ecosystems4,591▲ 60×4 topics
  7. Globalization4,481▲ 3.0×149 topics
  8. Urban Development4,473▲ 17×18 topics
  9. Economic Impact4,467▲ 11×13 topics
  10. Globalization Effects4,443▲ 85×3 topics
  11. Tourism Management4,357▲ 83×2 topics
  12. City Branding4,355▲ 93×1 topic
  13. Psychopharmacology Education4,355▲ 93×1 topic
  14. Sustainability4,240▲ 2.3×119 topics
  15. Competitiveness4,214▲ 70×6 topics
  16. E-Learning4,007▲ 5.5×23 topics
  17. Educational Technology3,767▲ 4.2×44 topics
  18. COVID-193,624▲ 3.7×34 topics
  19. Knowledge Management3,605▲ 8.6×38 topics
  20. Public Health3,496▲ 3.2×73 topics
  21. Pedagogy3,380▲ 8.9×25 topics
  22. Health Promotion3,330▲ 14×17 topics
  23. Teacher Training3,107▲ 6.7×27 topics
  24. Inclusive Education3,012▲ 11×18 topics
  25. Human Rights2,977▲ 3.9×71 topics
  26. Distance Learning2,885▲ 11×13 topics
  27. Social Impact2,550▲ 8.6×24 topics
  28. Nutrition2,545▲ 7.6×17 topics
  29. Organizational Culture2,456▲ 8.4×16 topics
  30. Digital Divide2,405▲ 12×8 topics
  31. Online Education2,394▲ 16×7 topics
  32. Digital Competence2,368▲ 36×4 topics
  33. ICT2,345▲ 23×5 topics
  34. Virtual Teaching2,320▲ 57×1 topic
  35. Technology2,249▲ 5.7×40 topics
  36. University Students2,039▲ 48×2 topics
  37. Research1,884▲ 20×11 topics
  38. Communication1,828▲ 7.7×23 topics
  39. Educational Interventions1,766▲ 25×3 topics
  40. Occupational Health1,725▲ 20×8 topics

Kenya

▲ 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. Climate Change1,810▲ 1.98×120 topics
  2. Sustainability1,751▲ 2.1×122 topics
  3. Epidemiology1,518◆ 1.13×136 topics
  4. Globalization1,252▲ 1.90×144 topics
  5. Supply Chain Management1,068▲ 3.5×25 topics
  6. Innovation1,016▲ 2.9×76 topics
  7. Poverty Reduction982▲ 22×6 topics
  8. Risk Management961▲ 6.0×17 topics
  9. Social Capital923▲ 5.3×20 topics
  10. Sustainable Development899▲ 1.71×96 topics
  11. Education894▲ 1.55×120 topics
  12. Economic Growth864▲ 3.1×32 topics
  13. Leadership820▲ 5.0×33 topics
  14. Corporate Governance798▲ 3.2×29 topics
  15. Development713▲ 5.9×20 topics
  16. Economic Development671▲ 2.5×50 topics
  17. Gender Equality655▲ 6.9×19 topics
  18. Sustainable Agriculture606▲ 5.8×16 topics
  19. Gender Inequality578▲ 12×7 topics
  20. Food Security577▲ 3.2×25 topics
  21. Smallholder Farmers569▲ 8.0×6 topics
  22. Social Networks560▲ 6.1×13 topics
  23. Community Health Workers555▲ 19×2 topics
  24. Rural Development550▲ 4.8×21 topics
  25. Adaptation547▲ 5.5×15 topics
  26. Maternal Mortality542▲ 7.2×5 topics
  27. Performance Measurement483▲ 5.4×7 topics
  28. Health Inequalities478▲ 12×5 topics
  29. Social Protection469▲ 31×2 topics
  30. Primary Education469▲ 35×2 topics
  31. Conditional Cash Transfers469▲ 39×1 topic
  32. School Subsidies469▲ 39×1 topic
  33. Socio-economic Factors463▲ 12×3 topics
  34. Child Mortality458▲ 19×1 topic
  35. Health Systems458▲ 19×1 topic
  36. Empowerment383▲ 12×6 topics
  37. Financial Constraints374▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Poverty Alleviation365▲ 11×3 topics
  39. Financial Inclusion365▲ 21×1 topic
  40. Microfinance365▲ 21×1 topic

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?

Ecuador has out-published Kenya every year since 2015, when it overtook it.

still counting10k20k30kEcuador21k in 2025Kenya7,818 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%Ecuador0.36% in 2025Kenya0.13% 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%Ecuador9.7% in 2025Kenya6.3% 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.

Ecuador 05 level0 Kenya
  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, Ecuador or Kenya?

Ecuador publishes 2.2× as much research as Kenya in 2022-now (65k against 29k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Ecuador or Kenya?

8.4% of Ecuador's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 5.7% for Kenya.

Is Ecuador or Kenya growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +59% against 2018-21 for Ecuador, and +28% for Kenya.

Which has more open access research, Ecuador or Kenya?

79% of Ecuador's research is free to read, against 70% of Kenya's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Ecuador or Kenya?

Ecuador holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Kenya 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%.

Ecuador

  1. 1Universidad Católica de Cuenca6.6% top 10% · 4.1k works
  2. 2Universidad Técnica de Manabí9.1% top 10% · 3k works
  3. 3Universidad Estatal de Milagro10.0% top 10% · 2.3k works
  4. 4University of Guayaquil7.6% top 10% · 3.4k works
  5. 5Universidad Tecnica de Machala9.9% top 10% · 1.8k works
  6. 6Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabi6.2% top 10% · 1.7k works

Kenya

  1. 1Kenya Medical Research Institute12.2% top 10% · 708 works
  2. 2University of Nairobi4.8% top 10% · 3.1k works
  3. 3Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology3.7% top 10% · 2.4k works
  4. 4Moi University4.9% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5Kisii University4.7% top 10% · 571 works
  6. 6Kenyatta University3.1% top 10% · 2.9k 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.

Ecuador

  1. 1 Augusto Paolo Bernal Párraga #3,437 worldwide 2.1k citations · 77 works
  2. 2 Rafael Alvarado #8,280 worldwide 9.9k citations · 183 works
  3. 3 David Neill #17,836 worldwide 21k citations · 193 works
  4. 4 Renato Valencia #29,585 worldwide 16k citations · 186 works
  5. 5 César Iván Casanova-Villalba #45,087 worldwide 1.1k citations · 72 works

Kenya

  1. 1 Robert William Snow #6,135 worldwide 58k citations · 677 works
  2. 2 Edwine Barasa #13,107 worldwide 9.2k citations · 311 works
  3. 3 Kevin Marsh #18,105 worldwide 58k citations · 689 works
  4. 4 J. Anthony G. Scott #24,316 worldwide 21k citations · 396 works
  5. 5 Menale B. Kassie #24,373 worldwide 14k citations · 263 works