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Science in Costa Rica

Costa Rica ranks #105 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#96 all time), with 12k research works and 7.7% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#105
of 192 · #96 all time
Works, 2022–2025
12k
▲ 13% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
7.7%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
0 in the top 1,000
Open access
70%
world 63%

What is Costa Rica strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Costa Rica ranks highest in Social Sciences (#96 of 151), Medicine (#99 of 155) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#81 of 126). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Horticulture, Life-span and Life-course Studies and General Social Sciences.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Social SciencesField #96 of 151 7.9%3,086 Institutions
MedicineField #99 of 155 5.1%1,519 Institutions
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #81 of 126 8.6%1,152 Institutions
PsychologyField #74 of 109 6.5%415 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #91 of 125 7.6%905 Institutions
Business, Management and AccountingField #87 of 113 10.1%428 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #101 of 131 10.1%781 Institutions
EducationSubfield #91 of 115 10.4%819 Institutions
Arts and HumanitiesField #84 of 106 9.2%659 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #99 of 122 7.4%600 Institutions
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #90 of 108 9.8%415 Institutions
EngineeringField #116 of 134 5.1%453 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. HorticultureSubfield · 23.2 works15×
  2. Life-span and Life-course StudiesSubfield · 25.5 works13×
  3. General Social SciencesSubfield · 133.2 works11×
  4. Neuropsychology and Physiological PsychologySubfield · 32.0 works8.5×
  5. General Arts and HumanitiesSubfield · 17.9 works7.5×
  6. Computer Science ApplicationsSubfield · 187.5 works6.6×
  7. DevelopmentSubfield · 75.8 works6.5×
  8. Industrial relationsSubfield · 2.0 works5.6×
← 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: 2.10× its world share, 1,152 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.67× its world share, 415 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.73× its world share, 85 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.41× its world share, 77 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.59× its world share, 24 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.13× its world share, 5 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.27× its world share, 49 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.87× its world share, 780 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.94× its world share, 170 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.79× its world share, 84 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.26× its world share, 453 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.58× its world share, 905 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.18× its world share, 72 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.44× its world share, 60 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.28× its world share, 71 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.31× its world share, 74 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.52× its world share, 463 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.68× its world share, 1,519 worksMedicineNursing: 0.70× its world share, 39 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.36× its world share, 21 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.98× its world share, 659 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.15× its world share, 428 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.54× its world share, 60 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.57× its world share, 388 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.18× its world share, 415 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.11× its world share, 3,086 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Social Sciences, 2.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Costa Rica?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Education, Globalization, Latin America, Innovation, Climate Change, Sustainability, Health Promotion and Public Health.

▲ 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. Education929▲ 4.7×114 topics
  2. Globalization723▲ 3.2×128 topics
  3. Climate Change702▲ 2.3×108 topics
  4. Sustainability627▲ 2.2×107 topics
  5. Innovation525▲ 4.3×63 topics
  6. Epidemiology524◆ 1.15×136 topics
  7. Public Health487▲ 2.9×71 topics
  8. Latin America462▲ 21×23 topics
  9. Sustainable Development416▲ 2.3×72 topics
  10. Educational Technology416▲ 3.0×39 topics
  11. E-Learning406▲ 3.5×19 topics
  12. COVID-19398▲ 2.5×29 topics
  13. Biodiversity374▲ 4.3×33 topics
  14. Knowledge Management342▲ 5.3×30 topics
  15. Pedagogy338▲ 6.0×23 topics
  16. Digital Marketing318▲ 6.5×5 topics
  17. Health Promotion306▲ 8.3×17 topics
  18. Teacher Training284▲ 3.9×23 topics
  19. Distance Learning279▲ 7.2×11 topics
  20. Technology270▲ 4.4×32 topics
  21. Nutrition251▲ 4.8×18 topics
  22. Urban Development245▲ 5.8×17 topics
  23. Social Movements244▲ 7.0×29 topics
  24. Community Participation230▲ 5.4×15 topics
  25. Digital Divide228▲ 7.6×8 topics
  26. Rural Development226▲ 5.6×17 topics
  27. Inclusive Education225▲ 5.5×17 topics
  28. Communication218▲ 6.1×16 topics
  29. Social Responsibility218▲ 8.1×10 topics
  30. Small and Medium Enterprises214▲ 11×7 topics
  31. ICT212▲ 14×5 topics
  32. Online Education210▲ 9.6×6 topics
  33. Digital Competence210▲ 21×3 topics
  34. Virtual Teaching206▲ 33×1 topic
  35. Competitiveness204▲ 22×6 topics
  36. Innovation Ecosystems202▲ 17×4 topics
  37. Informal Learning199▲ 13×6 topics
  38. Teacher Development188▲ 26×2 topics
  39. Student Performance181▲ 14×3 topics
  40. Educational Leadership180▲ 12×3 topics

Which universities in Costa Rica lead research?

Universidad de Costa Rica, Universidad Nacional and Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica rank highest in Costa Rica on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%mean 8.68%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →Universidad de Costa Rica: 3,845, 8.6%Universidad Nacional: 1,060, 8.2%Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica: 891, 7.5%Universidad de Ciencias Medicas: 630, 3.4%Ministerio de Educación Pública: 444, 13.1%National Biodiversity Institute: 151, 17.5%Universidad Independiente: 842, 5.0%Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología: 122, 10.7%Instituto Costarricense de Investigación y Enseñanza en Nutrición y Salud: 97, 7.4%University of Tourism: 133, 9.7%Distance State University: 570, 5.4%Universidad Autónoma Monterrey: 305, 7.2%Latin University of Costa Rica: 99, 10.5%Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana: 96, 11.4%Universidad Autónoma de Centro América: 283, 4.6%Universidad de Costa…Universidad NacionalInstituto Tecnológic…Universidad de Cienc…
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1Universidad de Costa RicaUniversity · San José · #3,174 worldwide8.6% top 10% · 3.8k works
  2. 2Universidad NacionalUniversity · Heredia · #8,302 worldwide8.2% top 10% · 1.1k works
  3. 3Instituto Tecnológico de Costa RicaUniversity · Cartago · #10,073 worldwide7.5% top 10% · 891 works
  4. 4Universidad de Ciencias MedicasUniversity · San José · #10,253 worldwide3.4% top 10% · 630 works
  5. 5Ministerio de Educación PúblicaGovernment institution · San José · #12,020 worldwide13.1% top 10% · 444 works
  6. 6National Biodiversity InstituteNonprofit · Santo Domingo · #15,716 worldwide17.5% top 10% · 151 works
  7. 7Universidad IndependienteUniversity · San José · #15,868 worldwide5.0% top 10% · 842 works
  8. 8Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y TecnologíaUniversity · San José · #18,395 worldwide10.7% top 10% · 122 works
  9. 9Instituto Costarricense de Investigación y Enseñanza en Nutrición y SaludInstitution · Tres Ríos · #18,481 worldwide7.4% top 10% · 97 works
  10. 10University of TourismUniversity · San José · #18,893 worldwide9.7% top 10% · 133 works
  11. 11Distance State UniversityUniversity · San Pedro · #19,096 worldwide5.4% top 10% · 570 works
  12. 12Universidad Autónoma MonterreyUniversity · San José · #21,604 worldwide7.2% top 10% · 305 works
  13. 13Latin University of Costa RicaUniversity · San Pedro · #21,619 worldwide10.5% top 10% · 99 works
  14. 14Universidad Bíblica LatinoamericanaUniversity · San José · #21,634 worldwide11.4% top 10% · 96 works
  15. 15Universidad Autónoma de Centro AméricaUniversity · San José · #22,450 worldwide4.6% top 10% · 283 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 Costa Rica

Who are the top researchers in Costa Rica?

Célia A. Harvey, Fernando Casanoves and Bryan Finegan rank highest among researchers based in Costa Rica.

  1. 1 Célia A. Harvey · #46,210 worldwide 260 citations · 40 works
  2. 2 Fernando Casanoves · #70,351 worldwide 280 citations · 34 works
  3. 3 Bryan Finegan · #75,907 worldwide 389 citations · 44 works
  4. 4 Robert L. Dressler · #75,999 worldwide 322 citations · 39 works
  5. 5 Leonardo Mata · #80,214 worldwide 298 citations · 43 works
  6. 6 Bernardo Kliksberg · #85,353 worldwide 61 citations · 39 works
  7. 7 Víctor M. Jiménez · #95,819 worldwide 196 citations · 28 works
  8. 8 Luciano Ciravegna · #117,201 worldwide 290 citations · 39 works
  9. 9 Eduardo Somarriba · #122,366 worldwide 235 citations · 48 works
  10. 10 Edgardo Moreno · #136,620 worldwide 158 citations · 26 works
Top researchers in Costa Rica

Which cities in Costa Rica are research hubs?

  1. 1 San José Costa Rica 46k works

How open and international is Costa Rica's research?

70% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 25% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available70.3%not open29.7%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors24.7%domestic only75.3%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Costa Rica's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 13% 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 Costa Rica