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Laos vs Nicaragua

On research quality in 2022-now, Laos ranks #79 in the world and Nicaragua #82, of 189 countries. Laos stands higher in 0 of the 3 fields both publish in, Nicaragua in 3.

Research profiles alike: 0.77very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Laos

World rank, 2022-now
#79
#88 all time
Works, 2022-now
1.2k
fractional
Top-10% rate
7.2%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
66%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Parasitology, Forestry, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

Nicaragua

World rank, 2022-now
#82
#79 all time
Works, 2022-now
2.7k
fractional
Top-10% rate
5.9%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
79%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Horticulture, General Social Sciences, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences.

Who leads, measure by measure?

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

Laos 61 level2 Nicaragua
  1. #79Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#82
  2. 0.96×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected0.80×
  3. 1.2kOutputfractional works, 2022-now2.7k
  4. 7.2%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited5.9%
  5. 11.8Citations per workall time, per fractional work4.0
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 66%Open accessof its works free to read, all time79%
  8. 56%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time34%
  9. +81%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+4%

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?

Laos stands higher in 0 of 3 fields, Nicaragua in 3. Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Laos 03 Nicaragua
  1. -Agricultural and Biological Sciences#60
  2. -Medicine#69
  3. -Social Sciences#62

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 Laos rankNicaragua rank Laos top 10%Nicaragua top 10% Laos worksNicaragua works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences - #60 - 5.1% - 355
Medicine - #69 - 5.4% - 259
Social Sciences - #62 - 6.9% - 768

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.

Laos

▲ 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. Epidemiology110▲ 1.87×113 topics
  2. Climate Change94▲ 2.3×89 topics
  3. Sustainability72▲ 2.0×75 topics
  4. Public Health47▲ 2.2×58 topics
  5. Environmental Impact47▲ 1.85×48 topics
  6. Biodiversity45▲ 4.0×31 topics
  7. Globalization44▲ 1.51×67 topics
  8. Sustainable Development39▲ 1.70×59 topics
  9. Education38▲ 1.51×69 topics
  10. Economic Development33▲ 2.8×20 topics
  11. Genetic Diversity28▲ 4.3×21 topics
  12. Biogeography27▲ 6.6×19 topics
  13. Pathogenesis26▲ 3.5×22 topics
  14. Antioxidant25▲ 2.5×41 topics
  15. Immune Response24▲ 2.9×22 topics
  16. Food Security23▲ 2.9×24 topics
  17. Vaccine Development23▲ 6.0×11 topics
  18. Biodiversity Conservation22▲ 4.0×14 topics
  19. Democracy22▲ 4.3×14 topics
  20. Invasive Species22▲ 3.6×20 topics
  21. Health Education22▲ 3.5×11 topics
  22. Vaccine22▲ 3.7×11 topics
  23. Ethnic Identity20▲ 12×2 topics
  24. Medicinal Plants19▲ 3.3×18 topics
  25. Cultural Politics19▲ 19×2 topics
  26. Laos19▲ 91×1 topic
  27. Thailand19▲ 91×1 topic
  28. Anti-inflammatory18▲ 4.3×23 topics
  29. Monetary Policy18▲ 5.2×6 topics
  30. Land Use Change18▲ 4.0×8 topics
  31. Maternal Health17▲ 4.5×4 topics
  32. Economic Evaluation17▲ 9.9×2 topics
  33. Breastfeeding16▲ 4.8×3 topics
  34. Molecular Phylogeny16▲ 6.5×12 topics
  35. Financial Analysis15▲ 8.8×3 topics
  36. Market Competition15▲ 22×2 topics
  37. Asset Pricing14▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Panel Data Models14▲ 31×1 topic
  39. Stock Prices14▲ 46×1 topic
  40. Taxonomy14▲ 6.3×13 topics

Nicaragua

▲ 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. Education295▲ 5.5×90 topics
  2. Sustainability220▲ 2.9×89 topics
  3. Innovation201▲ 6.2×54 topics
  4. Globalization194▲ 3.2×97 topics
  5. Climate Change171▲ 2.0×99 topics
  6. Sustainable Development153▲ 3.1×71 topics
  7. Environmental Impact151▲ 2.8×58 topics
  8. Educational Technology135▲ 3.6×35 topics
  9. Public Health131▲ 2.9×58 topics
  10. Food Security119▲ 7.0×23 topics
  11. E-Learning117▲ 3.9×20 topics
  12. Teacher Training117▲ 6.1×22 topics
  13. Latin America114▲ 19×22 topics
  14. Knowledge Management107▲ 6.1×27 topics
  15. Biodiversity104▲ 4.4×31 topics
  16. Digital Marketing101▲ 8.3×4 topics
  17. Public Policy96▲ 6.5×22 topics
  18. Sustainable Agriculture96▲ 10.0×16 topics
  19. Pedagogy95▲ 6.0×19 topics
  20. Rural Development88▲ 8.2×16 topics
  21. Competitiveness87▲ 35×6 topics
  22. Small and Medium Enterprises86▲ 15×6 topics
  23. Health Promotion82▲ 8.3×15 topics
  24. Social Responsibility81▲ 11×11 topics
  25. Distance Learning77▲ 7.1×11 topics
  26. Nutrition75▲ 5.4×16 topics
  27. Urban Development75▲ 6.8×14 topics
  28. Innovation Ecosystems73▲ 23×3 topics
  29. Social Impact72▲ 5.9×16 topics
  30. Inclusive Education71▲ 6.3×15 topics
  31. Agroecology70▲ 16×6 topics
  32. Climate Change Adaptation69▲ 12×6 topics
  33. Community Participation68▲ 6.1×15 topics
  34. Rural Communities67▲ 38×5 topics
  35. Globalization Effects65▲ 30×2 topics
  36. Psychopharmacology Education64▲ 33×1 topic
  37. Tourism Management64▲ 29×1 topic
  38. Soil Management62▲ 51×2 topics
  39. Crop Production62▲ 17×4 topics
  40. Organic Farming60▲ 29×2 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?

Nicaragua has out-published Laos every year since 1980.

still counting5001kNicaragua797 in 2025Laos416 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 counting0.010%0.020%Nicaragua0.014% in 2025Laos0.0071% 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 counting10%20%Laos8.3% in 2025Nicaragua7.3% 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.

Laos 05 level0 Nicaragua
  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, Laos or Nicaragua?

Nicaragua publishes 2.2× as much research as Laos in 2022-now (2.7k against 1.2k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Laos or Nicaragua?

7.2% of Laos's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 5.9% for Nicaragua.

Is Laos or Nicaragua growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +81% against 2018-21 for Laos, and +4% for Nicaragua.

Which has more open access research, Laos or Nicaragua?

79% of Nicaragua's research is free to read, against 66% of Laos's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Laos or Nicaragua?

Laos holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Nicaragua 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%.

Laos

  1. 1National University of Laos4.6% top 10% · 362 works
  2. 2Rural Development Agency7.7% top 10% · 144 works
  3. 3Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry8.4% top 10% · 213 works
  4. 4Ministry of Health6.3% top 10% · 120 works
  5. 5Souphanouvong University3.1% top 10% · 97 works
  6. 6National Institute of Public Health4.1% top 10% · 99 works

Nicaragua

  1. 1National Autonomous University of Nicaragua6.5% top 10% · 839 works
  2. 2National Agrarian University4.6% top 10% · 338 works
  3. 3Universidad del Valle7.5% top 10% · 240 works
  4. 4Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León4.7% top 10% · 122 works
  5. 5Universidad de las Américas10.9% top 10% · 114 works
  6. 6National University of Engineering3.0% top 10% · 119 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.

Laos

  1. 1 Mayfong Mayxay #108,394 worldwide 33k citations · 323 works
  2. 2 Paul N. Newton #120,711 worldwide 47k citations · 583 works
  3. 3 Tamalee Roberts #271,991 worldwide 23k citations · 89 works
  4. 4 Koukeo Phommasone #403,495 worldwide 22k citations · 124 works
  5. 5 Thoumthone Vongvisouk #656,079 worldwide 786 citations · 32 works

Nicaragua

  1. 1 María Ángeles Pérez #787,667 worldwide 1.8k citations · 21 works
  2. 2 Félix Espinoza #819,809 worldwide 4.7k citations · 55 works
  3. 3 Eliette C. Valladares #837,359 worldwide 3.5k citations · 40 works
  4. 4 Aurora Aragón #874,577 worldwide 2.5k citations · 83 works
  5. 5 Armando Saballos #1,129,075 worldwide 663 citations · 36 works