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Kenya vs Malaysia

On research quality in 2022-now, Malaysia ranks #54 in the world and Kenya #57, of 189 countries. Kenya stands higher in 6 of the 25 fields both publish in, Malaysia in 19.

Research profiles alike: 0.45similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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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.

Malaysia

World rank, 2022-now
#54
#57 all time
Works, 2022-now
176k
fractional
Top-10% rate
8.9%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
56%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Accounting, Information Systems and Management, Marketing.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Malaysia leads on 5 of 9 measures: research quality, excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate and citations per work. Kenya leads on 3 of 9 measures: open access, international co-authorship and growth. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100.

Kenya 31 level5 Malaysia
  1. #57Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#54
  2. 0.73×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected0.81×
  3. 29kOutputfractional works, 2022-now176k
  4. 5.7%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited8.9%
  5. 12.3Citations per workall time, per fractional work13.5
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 70%Open accessof its works free to read, all time56%
  8. 26%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time23%
  9. +28%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+18%

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?

Kenya stands higher in 6 of 25 fields, Malaysia in 19. Malaysia leads most in Decision Sciences (#40 against #66); Kenya leads most in Immunology and Microbiology (#36 against #56). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Kenya 619 Malaysia
  1. #39Agricultural and Biological Sciences#62
  2. #64Arts and Humanities#59
  3. #57Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#62
  4. #69Business, Management and Accounting#36
  5. -Chemical Engineering#34
  6. -Chemistry#48
  7. #73Computer Science#47
  8. #66Decision Sciences#40
  9. -Dentistry#44
  10. -Earth and Planetary Sciences#51
  11. #65Economics, Econometrics and Finance#56
  12. -Energy#32
  13. #79Engineering#42
  14. #58Environmental Science#39
  15. #57Health Professions#55
  16. #36Immunology and Microbiology#56
  17. #77Materials Science#51
  18. #52Mathematics#63
  19. #44Medicine#63
  20. -Neuroscience#51
  21. #41Nursing#53
  22. -Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#31
  23. -Physics and Astronomy#62
  24. #70Psychology#46
  25. #71Social Sciences#51

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 Kenya rankMalaysia rank Kenya top 10%Malaysia top 10% Kenya worksMalaysia works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #39 #62 9.6% 9.8% 3.1k 7.3k
Arts and Humanities #64 #59 7.2% 10.3% 720 4k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #57 #62 8.2% 7.7% 705 5k
Business, Management and Accounting #69 #36 2.6% 10.1% 3.3k 14k
Chemical Engineering - #34 - 8.4% - 676
Chemistry - #48 - 8.3% - 2k
Computer Science #73 #47 4.8% 10.1% 1.3k 18k
Decision Sciences #66 #40 3.1% 9.1% 710 3.4k
Dentistry - #44 - 7.1% - 949
Earth and Planetary Sciences - #51 - 6.9% - 1.6k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #65 #56 3.4% 9.6% 1.8k 4.8k
Energy - #32 - 9.5% - 2.3k
Engineering #79 #42 5.8% 7.6% 1.4k 29k
Environmental Science #58 #39 6.5% 8.3% 2k 9.9k
Health Professions #57 #55 7.5% 10.3% 1.1k 4.2k
Immunology and Microbiology #36 #56 9.0% 8.4% 308 901
Materials Science #77 #51 5.0% 7.9% 232 6.4k
Mathematics #52 #63 5.7% 10.6% 352 1.2k
Medicine #44 #63 7.1% 7.1% 3.9k 19k
Neuroscience - #51 - 7.6% - 1.5k
Nursing #41 #53 6.2% 8.5% 393 801
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics - #31 - 10.3% - 690
Physics and Astronomy - #62 - 6.6% - 1.1k
Psychology #70 #46 5.0% 7.4% 1.1k 7.1k
Social Sciences #71 #51 4.7% 10.6% 6.1k 31k

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.

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

Malaysia

▲ 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. Machine Learning9,301▲ 1.43×97 topics
  2. Deep Learning7,912▲ 1.17×85 topics
  3. Sustainability6,955▲ 1.46×131 topics
  4. Globalization6,549▲ 1.70×161 topics
  5. Environmental Impact5,458▲ 1.64×73 topics
  6. Educational Technology5,158▲ 2.2×47 topics
  7. Curriculum Development4,948▲ 3.7×19 topics
  8. Supply Chain Management4,899▲ 2.8×27 topics
  9. Risk Management4,842▲ 5.2×19 topics
  10. Social Media4,822▲ 1.78×40 topics
  11. Corporate Governance4,726▲ 3.3×31 topics
  12. Teacher Training4,552▲ 3.8×26 topics
  13. E-Learning4,527▲ 2.4×26 topics
  14. Islamic Education4,397▲ 6.8×4 topics
  15. Education4,374▲ 1.30×135 topics
  16. Renewable Energy4,324▲ 1.53×61 topics
  17. Pedagogy4,225▲ 4.3×27 topics
  18. Islamic Banking3,891▲ 5.3×3 topics
  19. Online Learning3,862▲ 2.4×27 topics
  20. Consumer Behavior3,721▲ 3.1×20 topics
  21. Artificial Intelligence3,704▲ 1.33×65 topics
  22. Religious Education3,668▲ 12×5 topics
  23. Ethical Values3,514▲ 19×2 topics
  24. Madrasa3,513▲ 26×1 topic
  25. Muslim Students3,513▲ 26×1 topic
  26. Healthcare3,343▲ 1.50×38 topics
  27. Performance Analysis3,223▲ 8.0×5 topics
  28. Finance3,169▲ 8.8×4 topics
  29. Financial Stability3,143▲ 8.4×8 topics
  30. Internet of Things3,017▲ 1.80×33 topics
  31. Global Financial Crisis2,999▲ 12×3 topics
  32. Ethical Identity2,979▲ 13×1 topic
  33. Shariah Supervision2,979▲ 13×1 topic
  34. Social Capital2,937▲ 2.9×20 topics
  35. Technology Integration2,628▲ 4.3×11 topics
  36. Mobile Learning2,540▲ 3.8×6 topics
  37. IoT2,519▲ 3.4×19 topics
  38. Student Engagement2,391▲ 3.1×17 topics
  39. Customer Satisfaction2,232▲ 3.6×10 topics
  40. Student Satisfaction1,789▲ 5.0×4 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?

Malaysia has out-published Kenya every year since 1986, when it overtook it.

still counting20k40k60kMalaysia45k 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 counting0.50%1.0%Malaysia0.77% 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%Malaysia8.7% 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.

Kenya 05 level0 Malaysia
  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, Kenya or Malaysia?

Malaysia publishes 6.0× as much research as Kenya in 2022-now (176k against 29k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Kenya or Malaysia?

8.9% of Malaysia's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 5.7% for Kenya.

Is Kenya or Malaysia growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +28% against 2018-21 for Kenya, and +18% for Malaysia.

Which has more open access research, Kenya or Malaysia?

70% of Kenya's research is free to read, against 56% of Malaysia's.

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

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

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

Malaysia

  1. 1Northern University of Malaysia9.8% top 10% · 3.7k works
  2. 2University of Technology Malaysia8.7% top 10% · 9.8k works
  3. 3Multimedia University11.9% top 10% · 2.8k works
  4. 4Universiti Tenaga Nasional13.7% top 10% · 1.7k works
  5. 5Sultan Idris Education University9.0% top 10% · 4.2k works
  6. 6Taylor's University12.9% top 10% · 1.8k 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.

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

Malaysia

  1. 1 Arshian Sharif #112 worldwide 23k citations · 262 works
  2. 2 Keng‐Boon Ooi #311 worldwide 27k citations · 262 works
  3. 3 Mohammad Iranmanesh #458 worldwide 17k citations · 224 works
  4. 4 Hesam Kamyab #791 worldwide 20k citations · 370 works
  5. 5 Bassim H. Hameed #1,891 worldwide 63k citations · 395 works