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Science in Afghanistan

Afghanistan ranks #120 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#148 all time), with 4.5k research works and 13.0% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#120
of 192 · #148 all time
Works, 2022–2025
4.5k
▲ 386% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
13.0%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
0 in the top 1,000
Open access
85%
world 63%

What is Afghanistan strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Afghanistan ranks highest in Social Sciences (#114 of 151), Computer Science (#100 of 131) and Engineering (#109 of 134). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Transportation, Political Science and International Relations and Agronomy and Crop Science.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Social SciencesField #114 of 151 13.0%1,303 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #100 of 131 20.0%260
EngineeringField #109 of 134 9.3%416 Institutions
MedicineField #127 of 155 9.1%690 Institutions
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #80 of 97 17.7%369 Institutions
EducationSubfield #96 of 115 17.2%235
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #107 of 126 14.2%317 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #106 of 122 9.2%376 Institutions

Where its research is concentrated

Location quotient: how much more — or less — of each node it does than its size predicts. Drawn around 1×, where “twice the world share” and “half of it” are the same distance apart in opposite directions. A volume reading, which on a country axis is largely population and industrial structure.

  1. TransportationSubfield · 156.1 works11×
  2. Political Science and International RelationsSubfield · 368.8 works5.6×
  3. Agronomy and Crop ScienceSubfield · 33.9 works3.2×
  4. General EnergySubfield · 3.7 works3.1×
  5. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 159.5 works3.1×
  6. General DentistrySubfield · 5.4 works2.8×
  7. General Economics, Econometrics and FinanceSubfield · 30.6 works2.7×
  8. Soil ScienceSubfield · 36.2 works2.7×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

The whole field profile

All 26 fields at once. A specialist and a generalist produce the same ranked list and a completely different shape.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 1.50× its world share, 317 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.37× its world share, 88 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.63× its world share, 28 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.29× its world share, 21 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.55× its world share, 9 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.17× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.39× its world share, 27 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.75× its world share, 260 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.53× its world share, 37 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.74× its world share, 30 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.62× its world share, 416 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.86× its world share, 190 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.27× its world share, 42 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.19× its world share, 62 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.31× its world share, 31 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.63× its world share, 35 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.87× its world share, 102 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.81× its world share, 690 worksMedicineNursing: 1.54× its world share, 34 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.97× its world share, 6 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.30× its world share, 168 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.37× its world share, 197 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.00× its world share, 43 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.71× its world share, 163 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.13× its world share, 154 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.31× its world share, 1,303 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Social Sciences, 2.3×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Afghanistan?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Security, Conflict, Central Asia, Nation-Building, Reconstruction, State-Building, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this country's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Security277▲ 9.6×24 topics
  2. Conflict267▲ 37×9 topics
  3. Epidemiology238▲ 1.35×124 topics
  4. Central Asia233▲ 74×4 topics
  5. Nation-Building230▲ 96×3 topics
  6. Reconstruction229▲ 30×6 topics
  7. State-Building228▲ 140×2 topics
  8. Afghanistan226▲ 204×1 topic
  9. Pakistan226▲ 204×1 topic
  10. Globalization210▲ 2.4×83 topics
  11. Ethnicity198▲ 12×14 topics
  12. Culture196▲ 8.3×15 topics
  13. History192▲ 6.2×18 topics
  14. Literature188▲ 7.8×22 topics
  15. Philosophy186▲ 9.4×10 topics
  16. Islam181▲ 19×4 topics
  17. Social Influence180▲ 19×3 topics
  18. Science179▲ 16×3 topics
  19. Malay Language178▲ 28×1 topic
  20. Sharia Law178▲ 28×1 topic
  21. Climate Change175▲ 1.46×88 topics
  22. Economic Security160▲ 17×7 topics
  23. Legal Regulation158▲ 16×6 topics
  24. Design155▲ 21×4 topics
  25. Strategic Planning154▲ 23×3 topics
  26. Modernization153▲ 19×4 topics
  27. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles153▲ 18×4 topics
  28. International Trade Law153▲ 26×2 topics
  29. Foresight153▲ 25×2 topics
  30. Air Force152▲ 28×1 topic
  31. Warfare152▲ 28×1 topic
  32. Public Oversight152▲ 27×1 topic
  33. Transport Policy152▲ 27×1 topic
  34. Sustainable Development151▲ 2.1×72 topics
  35. Human Rights109▲ 2.4×49 topics
  36. Teacher Training98▲ 3.5×15 topics
  37. Islamic Education81▲ 5.1×4 topics
  38. Religious Education63▲ 8.3×2 topics
  39. Madrasa61▲ 19×1 topic
  40. Muslim Students61▲ 19×1 topic

Which universities in Afghanistan lead research?

Kabul University, Nangarhar University and Kardan University rank highest in Afghanistan on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%mean 13.9467%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →Kabul University: 1,193, 10.4%Nangarhar University: 332, 14.5%Kardan University: 145, 21.7%Kandahar University: 207, 22.6%Polytechnical University of Kabul: 102, 17.4%Kabul Education University: 249, 8.9%Herat University: 340, 12.6%World Health Organization - Afghanistan: 135, 18.8%Paktia University: 114, 10.5%Bakhtar University: 92, 13.9%Balkh University: 167, 11.3%Salam University: 133, 10.8%Ghazni University: 75, 13.3%Kabul Medical University: 146, 9.9%Khost University: 138, 12.6%Kandahar UniversityKardan UniversityNangarhar UniversityKabul University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per institution in the list below. The upper left is the interesting corner.

  1. 1Kabul UniversityUniversity · Kabul · #7,981 worldwide10.4% top 10% · 1.2k works
  2. 2Nangarhar UniversityUniversity · Jalalabad · #10,279 worldwide14.5% top 10% · 332 works
  3. 3Kardan UniversityUniversity · Kabul · #13,397 worldwide21.7% top 10% · 145 works
  4. 4Kandahar UniversityUniversity · Kandahar · #14,292 worldwide22.6% top 10% · 207 works
  5. 5Polytechnical University of KabulUniversity · Kabul · #15,935 worldwide17.4% top 10% · 102 works
  6. 6Kabul Education UniversityUniversity · Kabul · #16,277 worldwide8.9% top 10% · 249 works
  7. 7Herat UniversityUniversity · Herat · #17,218 worldwide12.6% top 10% · 340 works
  8. 8World Health Organization - AfghanistanGovernment institution · Kabul · #17,343 worldwide18.8% top 10% · 135 works
  9. 9Paktia UniversityUniversity · Gardez · #17,408 worldwide10.5% top 10% · 114 works
  10. 10Bakhtar UniversityUniversity · Kabul · #17,748 worldwide13.9% top 10% · 92 works
  11. 11Balkh UniversityUniversity · Mazari Sharif · #18,262 worldwide11.3% top 10% · 167 works
  12. 12Salam UniversityUniversity · Kabul · #20,319 worldwide10.8% top 10% · 133 works
  13. 13Ghazni UniversityUniversity · Ghazni · #20,702 worldwide13.3% top 10% · 75 works
  14. 14Kabul Medical UniversityUniversity · Kabul · #22,344 worldwide9.9% top 10% · 146 works
  15. 15Khost UniversityUniversity · Khōst · #22,793 worldwide12.6% top 10% · 138 works

The track on each row is its top-10% rate; the tick is the world’s rate in this record, 16.5% — teal above it, red below.

All ranked institutions in Afghanistan

Who are the top researchers in Afghanistan?

Naeem Ullah, G Sibi and Jamshid Abdul‐Ghafar rank highest among researchers based in Afghanistan.

  1. 1 Naeem Ullah · #774,271 worldwide 28 citations · 16 works
  2. 2 G Sibi · #959,149 worldwide 31 citations · 16 works
  3. 3 Jamshid Abdul‐Ghafar · #1,040,440 worldwide 44 citations · 15 works
  4. 4 Ahmad Neyazi · #1,438,431 worldwide 9 citations · 15 works
  5. 5 Nasar Ahmad Shayan · #1,461,106 worldwide 12 citations · 15 works
  6. 6 Ibrahim Anwar · #1,633,589 worldwide 0 citations · 15 works
Top researchers in Afghanistan

How open and international is Afghanistan's research?

85% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 35% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available84.6%not open15.4%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors34.5%domestic only65.5%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Afghanistan's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 386% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research fields in Afghanistan