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Ghana vs Zimbabwe

On research quality in 2022-now, Ghana ranks #58 in the world and Zimbabwe #75, of 189 countries. Ghana stands higher in 19 of the 19 fields both publish in, Zimbabwe in 0.

Research profiles alike: 0.92very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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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.

Zimbabwe

World rank, 2022-now
#75
#82 all time
Works, 2022-now
7.2k
fractional
Top-10% rate
6.9%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
52%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Fuel Technology, Archeology, Public Administration.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Ghana leads on 7 of 9 measures: research quality, excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate, citations per work, open access and international co-authorship. Zimbabwe leads on 1 of 9 measures: growth. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100.

Ghana 71 level1 Zimbabwe
  1. #58Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#75
  2. 1.00×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected0.83×
  3. 27kOutputfractional works, 2022-now7.2k
  4. 10.8%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited6.9%
  5. 12.1Citations per workall time, per fractional work10.3
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 65%Open accessof its works free to read, all time52%
  8. 33%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time31%
  9. +42%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+51%

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?

Ghana stands higher in 19 of 19 fields, Zimbabwe in 0. Ghana leads most in Health Professions (#42 against #72). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Ghana 190 Zimbabwe
  1. #43Agricultural and Biological Sciences#74
  2. #55Arts and Humanities-
  3. #61Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-
  4. #46Business, Management and Accounting#76
  5. #62Computer Science#87
  6. #45Decision Sciences-
  7. #58Earth and Planetary Sciences-
  8. #41Economics, Econometrics and Finance#70
  9. #57Energy-
  10. #72Engineering#97
  11. #52Environmental Science#85
  12. #42Health Professions#72
  13. #40Immunology and Microbiology-
  14. #70Materials Science-
  15. #60Mathematics-
  16. #58Medicine#62
  17. #40Nursing-
  18. #58Psychology#79
  19. #59Social Sciences#72

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 Ghana rankZimbabwe rank Ghana top 10%Zimbabwe top 10% Ghana worksZimbabwe works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #43 #74 11.0% 7.3% 2.3k 623
Arts and Humanities #55 - 11.5% - 746 -
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #61 - 9.3% - 637 -
Business, Management and Accounting #46 #76 12.9% 6.0% 2.3k 548
Computer Science #62 #87 10.8% 6.8% 1.4k 336
Decision Sciences #45 - 9.5% - 458 -
Earth and Planetary Sciences #58 - 11.4% - 207 -
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #41 #70 13.1% 4.6% 1.6k 367
Energy #57 - 9.8% - 235 -
Engineering #72 #97 8.0% 4.3% 1.7k 677
Environmental Science #52 #85 9.1% 4.8% 1.9k 509
Health Professions #42 #72 13.2% 9.9% 1.1k 276
Immunology and Microbiology #40 - 12.1% - 295 -
Materials Science #70 - 7.5% - 206 -
Mathematics #60 - 11.1% - 277 -
Medicine #58 #62 10.1% 9.9% 4.3k 785
Nursing #40 - 11.6% - 396 -
Psychology #58 #79 8.7% 4.9% 1k 210
Social Sciences #59 #72 11.6% 7.3% 5k 2k

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.

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

Zimbabwe

▲ 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. Colonialism557▲ 14×23 topics
  2. Social Justice455▲ 9.1×35 topics
  3. Nationalism444▲ 12×15 topics
  4. Sustainability430▲ 2.1×96 topics
  5. Political Economy415▲ 19×14 topics
  6. Climate Change406▲ 1.79×108 topics
  7. Land Reform389▲ 99×2 topics
  8. History388▲ 6.7×13 topics
  9. Agrarian Relations362▲ 470×1 topic
  10. Zimbabwe362▲ 470×1 topic
  11. Sustainable Development355▲ 2.7×84 topics
  12. Globalization319▲ 1.94×104 topics
  13. Social Capital236▲ 5.4×18 topics
  14. Environmental Impact225▲ 1.58×65 topics
  15. Mental Health203▲ 1.70×41 topics
  16. COVID-19196▲ 1.81×29 topics
  17. Economic Growth190▲ 2.8×30 topics
  18. Higher Education180▲ 4.0×27 topics
  19. Human Rights179▲ 2.1×51 topics
  20. Poverty Reduction175▲ 16×6 topics
  21. Innovation173▲ 2.0×56 topics
  22. Digital Transformation161▲ 3.6×22 topics
  23. Economic Development157▲ 2.4×38 topics
  24. Development142▲ 4.8×17 topics
  25. Sustainable Agriculture134▲ 5.2×14 topics
  26. Gender Inequality128▲ 11×6 topics
  27. Social Impact128▲ 3.9×15 topics
  28. Vulnerability125▲ 6.4×8 topics
  29. Poverty Alleviation124▲ 16×2 topics
  30. Antiretroviral Therapy122▲ 9.0×6 topics
  31. Rural Development122▲ 4.2×15 topics
  32. Health Equity115▲ 4.7×6 topics
  33. Land Tenure114▲ 33×2 topics
  34. Smallholder Farmers107▲ 6.1×6 topics
  35. Postcolonialism93▲ 7.8×10 topics
  36. Urban Poverty87▲ 24×2 topics
  37. Housing Policy87▲ 37×1 topic
  38. Slum Upgrading87▲ 37×1 topic
  39. Decolonization86▲ 13×7 topics
  40. Community Health Workers84▲ 11×2 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?

Ghana has out-published Zimbabwe every year since 1997, when it overtook it.

still counting2.5k5k7.5kGhana7,317 in 2025Zimbabwe2,138 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 counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Ghana0.12% in 2025Zimbabwe0.036% 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 2025Zimbabwe7.9% 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.

Ghana 05 level0 Zimbabwe
  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, Ghana or Zimbabwe?

Ghana publishes 3.7× as much research as Zimbabwe in 2022-now (27k against 7.2k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Ghana or Zimbabwe?

10.8% of Ghana's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 6.9% for Zimbabwe.

Is Ghana or Zimbabwe growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +51% against 2018-21 for Zimbabwe, and +42% for Ghana.

Which has more open access research, Ghana or Zimbabwe?

65% of Ghana's research is free to read, against 52% of Zimbabwe's.

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

Ghana holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Zimbabwe 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%.

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

Zimbabwe

  1. 1University of Zimbabwe6.5% top 10% · 1.5k works
  2. 2National University of Science and Technology6.3% top 10% · 1.2k works
  3. 3Great Zimbabwe University5.6% top 10% · 524 works
  4. 4Midlands State University6.6% top 10% · 1.1k works
  5. 5Chinhoyi University of Technology6.9% top 10% · 389 works
  6. 6Harare Institute of Technology3.4% top 10% · 228 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.

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

Zimbabwe

  1. 1 Jephat Chifamba #20,133 worldwide 23k citations · 165 works
  2. 2 Brighton Nyagadza #68,624 worldwide 1.6k citations · 133 works
  3. 3 Régis Chikowo #103,612 worldwide 6.2k citations · 178 works
  4. 4 Christian Thierfelder #135,188 worldwide 10k citations · 271 works
  5. 5 Willis Gwenzi #170,977 worldwide 8.2k citations · 219 works