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Hungary vs South Africa

On research quality in 2022-now, South Africa ranks #29 in the world and Hungary #32, of 189 countries. Hungary stands higher in 5 of the 25 fields both publish in, South Africa in 20.

Research profiles alike: 0.39somewhat alike shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Hungary

World rank, 2022-now
#32
#36 all time
Works, 2022-now
69k
fractional
Top-10% rate
8.6%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
48%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Geography, Planning and Development, Life-span and Life-course Studies, Archeology.

South Africa

World rank, 2022-now
#29
#31 all time
Works, 2022-now
113k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.6%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
49%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Archeology, Religious studies, Research and Theory.

Who leads, measure by measure?

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

Hungary 22 level5 South Africa
  1. #32Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#29
  2. 0.87×Citation excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.06×
  3. 69kOutputfractional works, 2022-now113k
  4. 8.6%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited10.6%
  5. 14.2Citations per workall time, per fractional work16.2
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 48%Open accessof its works free to read, all time49%
  8. 24%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time22%
  9. +23%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+17%

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, citation excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Hungary stands higher in 5 of 25 fields, South Africa in 20. South Africa leads most in Decision Sciences (#26 against #37); Hungary leads most in Neuroscience (#24 against #37). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Hungary 520 South Africa
  1. #33Agricultural and Biological Sciences#28
  2. #30Arts and Humanities#20
  3. #30Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#31
  4. #31Business, Management and Accounting#29
  5. -Chemical Engineering#32
  6. #41Chemistry#38
  7. #38Computer Science#32
  8. #37Decision Sciences#26
  9. #30Dentistry#39
  10. #37Earth and Planetary Sciences#28
  11. #29Economics, Econometrics and Finance#22
  12. #41Energy#43
  13. #37Engineering#36
  14. #38Environmental Science#29
  15. #33Health Professions#29
  16. #33Immunology and Microbiology#24
  17. #40Materials Science#32
  18. #30Mathematics#28
  19. #33Medicine#23
  20. #24Neuroscience#37
  21. #35Nursing#34
  22. #28Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#24
  23. #27Physics and Astronomy#33
  24. #31Psychology#24
  25. #31Social Sciences#22

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 Hungary rankSouth Africa rank Hungary top 10%South Africa top 10% Hungary worksSouth Africa works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #33 #28 9.5% 12.1% 4.1k 6.9k
Arts and Humanities #30 #20 8.6% 15.9% 3.5k 4.3k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #30 #31 7.8% 9.4% 3.3k 3.7k
Business, Management and Accounting #31 #29 10.2% 9.4% 2.2k 6.3k
Chemical Engineering - #32 - 7.1% - 301
Chemistry #41 #38 5.1% 10.4% 1k 1.4k
Computer Science #38 #32 7.6% 10.9% 4.1k 5.6k
Decision Sciences #37 #26 8.6% 9.6% 695 1.8k
Dentistry #30 #39 20.5% 8.8% 260 243
Earth and Planetary Sciences #37 #28 7.0% 9.1% 1.2k 1.5k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #29 #22 10.0% 12.1% 1.9k 4.3k
Energy #41 #43 8.2% 10.4% 464 1.2k
Engineering #37 #36 7.1% 8.6% 7.8k 11k
Environmental Science #38 #29 8.6% 9.2% 3.1k 7.9k
Health Professions #33 #29 9.3% 10.6% 1.3k 4.3k
Immunology and Microbiology #33 #24 8.4% 11.1% 526 978
Materials Science #40 #32 6.7% 9.1% 1.4k 2.7k
Mathematics #30 #28 8.3% 11.5% 1k 1.3k
Medicine #33 #23 9.3% 10.2% 9.3k 15k
Neuroscience #24 #37 8.4% 9.2% 1.1k 690
Nursing #35 #34 10.6% 11.2% 231 783
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics #28 #24 9.2% 11.6% 253 307
Physics and Astronomy #27 #33 7.0% 9.4% 1.6k 1.7k
Psychology #31 #24 7.3% 9.1% 2.6k 4.6k
Social Sciences #31 #22 9.4% 11.7% 16k 24k

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.

Hungary

▲ 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. Sustainability7,962▲ 4.2×137 topics
  2. Globalization7,804▲ 5.1×174 topics
  3. Innovation6,693▲ 8.3×89 topics
  4. Economic Development6,345▲ 10×57 topics
  5. Knowledge Management6,104▲ 14×40 topics
  6. Regional Disparities6,074▲ 165×2 topics
  7. Social Impact5,955▲ 19×25 topics
  8. Policy5,925▲ 35×16 topics
  9. Tourism5,878▲ 82×9 topics
  10. Environmental Influence5,802▲ 252×1 topic
  11. Climate Change2,714▲ 1.28×130 topics
  12. Epidemiology2,159▼ 0.69×139 topics
  13. Machine Learning1,914▼ 0.74×97 topics
  14. Education1,437◆ 1.07×156 topics
  15. Inflammation1,306▼ 0.79×83 topics
  16. Artificial Intelligence1,262◆ 1.13×65 topics
  17. Human Rights1,246▲ 1.56×90 topics
  18. Sustainable Development1,239◆ 1.01×110 topics
  19. Environmental Impact1,231◆ 0.92×73 topics
  20. Biodiversity966▲ 1.62×38 topics
  21. European Union950▲ 5.5×29 topics
  22. Identity882▲ 1.56×78 topics
  23. Invasive Species868▲ 2.6×21 topics
  24. Nationalism857▲ 2.4×34 topics
  25. International Relations838▲ 4.4×31 topics
  26. Religion709▲ 1.96×43 topics
  27. European Integration636▲ 15×6 topics
  28. Geopolitics633▲ 5.3×12 topics
  29. Diplomacy539▲ 7.4×9 topics
  30. Eastern Europe519▲ 13×3 topics
  31. Soviet Union499▲ 12×3 topics
  32. Cold War486▲ 10×5 topics
  33. National Identity477▲ 5.3×11 topics
  34. Sociology466▲ 4.3×27 topics
  35. Cultural Diplomacy450▲ 7.1×5 topics
  36. Postcolonial Theory437▲ 21×4 topics
  37. Australia425▲ 34×1 topic
  38. Soft Power393▲ 12×3 topics
  39. Central Europe352▲ 57×1 topic
  40. Visegrad Group352▲ 57×1 topic

South Africa

▲ 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 Change4,986▲ 1.43×130 topics
  2. Sustainability4,915▲ 1.56×137 topics
  3. Epidemiology4,800◆ 0.94×140 topics
  4. Globalization4,533▲ 1.79×177 topics
  5. Machine Learning3,278▼ 0.77×97 topics
  6. Human Rights3,247▲ 2.5×88 topics
  7. Mental Health3,037▲ 1.65×48 topics
  8. Environmental Impact2,887▲ 1.32×72 topics
  9. Higher Education2,704▲ 4.0×34 topics
  10. Renewable Energy2,666▲ 1.43×61 topics
  11. Colonialism2,633▲ 4.3×49 topics
  12. Education2,535◆ 1.15×152 topics
  13. Sustainable Development2,520▲ 1.25×110 topics
  14. Economic Growth2,417▲ 2.3×37 topics
  15. Social Justice2,223▲ 2.9×53 topics
  16. Social Capital1,916▲ 2.9×21 topics
  17. South Africa1,591▲ 45×4 topics
  18. Nationalism1,540▲ 2.7×32 topics
  19. Development1,506▲ 3.3×23 topics
  20. Inequality1,451▲ 5.0×18 topics
  21. Antiretroviral Therapy1,327▲ 6.3×6 topics
  22. Environmental Governance1,301▲ 15×6 topics
  23. Equality1,234▲ 16×8 topics
  24. Poverty Reduction1,202▲ 7.2×7 topics
  25. Public Participation1,188▲ 42×3 topics
  26. Race1,174▲ 7.6×19 topics
  27. Judicial Review1,166▲ 11×5 topics
  28. Gender-based Violence1,164▲ 16×3 topics
  29. Postcolonialism1,160▲ 6.3×18 topics
  30. Constitutionalism1,141▲ 10×5 topics
  31. Consumer Protection1,141▲ 21×4 topics
  32. Legal Research1,128▲ 7.3×3 topics
  33. Developmental Local Government1,116▲ 84×1 topic
  34. Socio-Economic Rights1,116▲ 84×1 topic
  35. Decolonization974▲ 9.3×8 topics
  36. Poverty Alleviation928▲ 7.6×3 topics
  37. economic empowerment910▲ 44×2 topics
  38. post-apartheid910▲ 91×1 topic
  39. protests910▲ 91×1 topic
  40. NGOs883▲ 7.4×5 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?

South Africa has out-published Hungary every year since 1984, when it overtook it.

still counting20k40kSouth Africa31k in 2025Hungary18k 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%South Africa0.53% in 2025Hungary0.31% 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%South Africa10.9% in 2025Hungary9.2% 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.

Hungary 02 level3 South Africa
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 0In the top 1000
  3. 0In the top 5002
  4. 3In the top 1,0004
  5. #33Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#31

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, Hungary or South Africa?

South Africa publishes 1.6× as much research as Hungary in 2022-now (113k against 69k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Hungary or South Africa?

10.6% of South Africa's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 8.6% for Hungary.

Is Hungary or South Africa growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +23% against 2018-21 for Hungary, and +17% for South Africa.

Which has more open access research, Hungary or South Africa?

49% of South Africa's research is free to read, against 48% of Hungary's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Hungary or South Africa?

Hungary holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and South Africa 0; in the top 1,000 it is 3 against 4.

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%.

Hungary

  1. 1Hungarian Research Network9.3% top 10% · 5k works
  2. 2Eötvös Loránd University9.7% top 10% · 6.3k works
  3. 3Hungarian Academy of Sciences9.4% top 10% · 4.2k works
  4. 4Corvinus University of Budapest13.7% top 10% · 1.9k works
  5. 5University of Debrecen8.1% top 10% · 5.9k works
  6. 6Budapest University of Technology and Economics7.0% top 10% · 4.7k works

South Africa

  1. 1University of Cape Town10.9% top 10% · 7.2k works
  2. 2Stellenbosch University9.8% top 10% · 7.9k works
  3. 3University of the Witwatersrand10.5% top 10% · 8.9k works
  4. 4University of Johannesburg12.9% top 10% · 13k works
  5. 5University of Pretoria9.6% top 10% · 9k works
  6. 6University of South Africa10.9% top 10% · 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.

Hungary

  1. 1 Z. Frei #1,545 worldwide 71k citations · 273 works
  2. 2 M. Tápai #1,944 worldwide 72k citations · 134 works
  3. 3 Attila Szolnoki #5,052 worldwide 23k citations · 291 works
  4. 4 M. Vasúth #6,543 worldwide 59k citations · 224 works
  5. 5 Abderahman Rejeb #8,541 worldwide 8.8k citations · 137 works

South Africa

  1. 1 Surajit Bag #6,981 worldwide 13k citations · 234 works
  2. 2 Christopher H. Trisos #8,500 worldwide 15k citations · 130 works
  3. 3 Osaretin Christabel Okonji #8,695 worldwide 39k citations · 121 works
  4. 4 Crick Lund #10,675 worldwide 34k citations · 524 works
  5. 5 Benn K. D. Sartorius #10,888 worldwide 208k citations · 402 works

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