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Science in Malaysia

Malaysia ranks #30 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#37 all time), with 176k research works and 15.8% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#30
of 192 · #37 all time
Works, 2022–2025
176k
▲ 42% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
15.8%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
6 in the top 1,000
Open access
56%
world 63%

What is Malaysia strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Malaysia ranks highest in Education (#10 of 115), Business, Management and Accounting (#11 of 113) and Economics, Econometrics and Finance (#11 of 110). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Accounting, Information Systems and Management and Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
EducationSubfield #10 of 115 17.7%12,398 Institutions
Business, Management and AccountingField #11 of 113 19.3%13,843 Institutions
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #11 of 110 25.1%4,798 Institutions
AccountingSubfield #7 of 66 14.8%4,369 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #14 of 131 16.8%17,564 Institutions
Economics and EconometricsSubfield #11 of 101 26.3%3,839 Institutions
Information Systems and ManagementSubfield #5 of 45 32.3%1,455 Institutions
Social SciencesField #17 of 151 17.8%30,648 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #14 of 122 17.3%9,700 Institutions
Information SystemsSubfield #11 of 93 16.7%5,823 Institutions
Strategy and ManagementSubfield #10 of 80 20.7%2,650 Institutions
MarketingSubfield #7 of 56 26.3%2,010 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. AccountingSubfield · 4,369.3 works4.1×
  2. Information Systems and ManagementSubfield · 1,454.8 works2.9×
  3. Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided DesignSubfield · 411.1 works2.8×
  4. MarketingSubfield · 2,009.7 works2.7×
  5. Chemical Health and SafetySubfield · 29.5 works2.6×
  6. Business, Management and AccountingField · 13,842.9 works2.4×
  7. Business and International ManagementSubfield · 438.5 works2.4×
  8. EducationSubfield · 12,398.4 works2.3×
← 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: 0.88× its world share, 7,345 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.53× its world share, 4,990 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.51× its world share, 901 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.52× its world share, 1,498 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.11× its world share, 690 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.10× its world share, 676 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.74× its world share, 2,037 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.28× its world share, 18k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.57× its world share, 1,576 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.41× its world share, 2,277 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.10× its world share, 29k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.13× its world share, 9,875 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.04× its world share, 6,408 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.59× its world share, 1,224 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.29× its world share, 1,122 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.11× its world share, 949 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.91× its world share, 4,227 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.55× its world share, 19k worksMedicineNursing: 0.93× its world share, 801 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.41× its world share, 98 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.79× its world share, 4,030 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.44× its world share, 14k worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.97× its world share, 3,350 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.28× its world share, 4,798 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.33× its world share, 7,109 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.38× its world share, 31k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Business, Management and Accounting, 2.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Malaysia?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Islamic Education, Risk Management, Religious Education, Machine Learning, Ethical Values, Madrasa, Muslim Students and Curriculum Development.

▲ 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. Machine Learning8,365▲ 1.45×96 topics
  2. Deep Learning7,179▲ 1.19×85 topics
  3. Sustainability6,216▲ 1.45×126 topics
  4. Globalization6,000▲ 1.74×154 topics
  5. Environmental Impact4,926▲ 1.65×73 topics
  6. Curriculum Development4,625▲ 3.8×19 topics
  7. Educational Technology4,594▲ 2.2×47 topics
  8. Risk Management4,545▲ 5.3×19 topics
  9. Supply Chain Management4,477▲ 2.7×27 topics
  10. Social Media4,453▲ 1.77×40 topics
  11. Corporate Governance4,382▲ 3.4×31 topics
  12. Teacher Training4,258▲ 3.9×26 topics
  13. E-Learning4,219▲ 2.4×25 topics
  14. Islamic Education4,162▲ 6.7×4 topics
  15. Education3,947▲ 1.31×129 topics
  16. Renewable Energy3,898▲ 1.54×59 topics
  17. Pedagogy3,886▲ 4.5×27 topics
  18. Islamic Banking3,752▲ 5.2×3 topics
  19. Online Learning3,600▲ 2.5×27 topics
  20. Religious Education3,467▲ 12×5 topics
  21. Consumer Behavior3,395▲ 3.0×20 topics
  22. Ethical Values3,324▲ 19×2 topics
  23. Madrasa3,323▲ 26×1 topic
  24. Muslim Students3,323▲ 26×1 topic
  25. Performance Analysis3,075▲ 8.1×5 topics
  26. Finance3,021▲ 8.8×4 topics
  27. Financial Stability2,985▲ 8.4×8 topics
  28. Healthcare2,985▲ 1.51×37 topics
  29. Global Financial Crisis2,877▲ 12×3 topics
  30. Ethical Identity2,858▲ 13×1 topic
  31. Shariah Supervision2,858▲ 13×1 topic
  32. Internet of Things2,758▲ 1.80×32 topics
  33. Social Capital2,656▲ 2.9×20 topics
  34. Mobile Learning2,352▲ 3.8×6 topics
  35. IoT2,333▲ 3.6×19 topics
  36. Technology Integration2,327▲ 4.3×11 topics
  37. Student Engagement2,142▲ 3.0×17 topics
  38. Customer Satisfaction2,019▲ 3.6×9 topics
  39. Student Satisfaction1,683▲ 5.0×4 topics
  40. User Satisfaction1,586▲ 4.6×4 topics

How many world-class institutions does Malaysia hold?

Average quality and elite capacity disagree by construction, and both are worth knowing: the first is decided by a country’s whole institution population, the second counts the institutions it holds at the top. One square per institution.

101st to 500th4501st to 1,000th2

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 6 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in Malaysia lead research?

Universiti Sains Malaysia, National University of Malaysia and University of Malaya rank highest in Malaysia on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%20%40%mean 21.0933%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →Universiti Sains Malaysia: 11k, 20.9%National University of Malaysia: 13k, 19.7%University of Malaya: 11k, 20.2%Universiti Putra Malaysia: 10k, 19.1%University of Technology Malaysia: 9,752, 16.4%Sunway University: 1,950, 34.8%Universiti Teknologi Petronas: 3,160, 20.9%Universiti Teknologi MARA: 16k, 10.2%Monash University Malaysia: 2,090, 27.3%Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah: 4,352, 13.4%Universiti Tenaga Nasional: 1,652, 21.8%Taylor's University: 1,770, 27.4%UCSI University: 1,908, 24.1%Universiti Malaysia Terengganu: 2,928, 16.1%INTI International University: 1,632, 24.1%Universiti Sains Mal…University of MalayaNational University …Universiti Putra Mal…
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1Universiti Sains MalaysiaUniversity · George Town · #251 worldwide20.9% top 10% · 11k works
  2. 2National University of MalaysiaUniversity · Bangi · #310 worldwide19.7% top 10% · 13k works
  3. 3University of MalayaUniversity · Kuala Lumpur · #362 worldwide20.2% top 10% · 11k works
  4. 4Universiti Putra MalaysiaUniversity · Seri Kembangan · #407 worldwide19.1% top 10% · 10k works
  5. 5University of Technology MalaysiaUniversity · Johor Bahru · #620 worldwide16.4% top 10% · 9.8k works
  6. 6Sunway UniversityUniversity · Petaling Jaya · #763 worldwide34.8% top 10% · 1.9k works
  7. 7Universiti Teknologi PetronasUniversity · Ipoh · #1,051 worldwide20.9% top 10% · 3.2k works
  8. 8Universiti Teknologi MARAUniversity · Shah Alam · #1,058 worldwide10.2% top 10% · 16k works
  9. 9Monash University MalaysiaUniversity · Subang Jaya · #1,135 worldwide27.3% top 10% · 2.1k works
  10. 10Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan AbdullahUniversity · Pekan · #1,231 worldwide13.4% top 10% · 4.4k works
  11. 11Universiti Tenaga NasionalUniversity · Kuala Selangor · #1,407 worldwide21.8% top 10% · 1.7k works
  12. 12Taylor's UniversityUniversity · Subang Jaya · #1,486 worldwide27.4% top 10% · 1.8k works
  13. 13UCSI UniversityUniversity · Kuala Lumpur · #1,734 worldwide24.1% top 10% · 1.9k works
  14. 14Universiti Malaysia TerengganuUniversity · Kuala Terengganu · #1,869 worldwide16.1% top 10% · 2.9k works
  15. 15INTI International UniversityUniversity · Kampung Baharu Nilai · #1,938 worldwide24.1% top 10% · 1.6k 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 Malaysia

Who are the top researchers in Malaysia?

Abdullah Gani, Syed Mohamed Aljunid and Pallav Sengupta rank highest among researchers based in Malaysia.

  1. 1 Abdullah Gani · #4,941 worldwide 1.1k citations · 82 works
  2. 2 Syed Mohamed Aljunid · #8,810 worldwide 3.8k citations · 49 works
  3. 3 Pallav Sengupta · #8,838 worldwide 852 citations · 55 works
  4. 4 Keng‐Boon Ooi · #9,967 worldwide 1.4k citations · 53 works
  5. 5 R. Saidur · #10,368 worldwide 1.5k citations · 60 works
  6. 6 Nasrudin Abd Rahim · #11,486 worldwide 2.7k citations · 189 works
  7. 7 Satoshi Ogawa · #13,546 worldwide 893 citations · 50 works
  8. 8 Garry Wei‐Han Tan · #14,654 worldwide 1.1k citations · 51 works
  9. 9 Pervaiz K. Ahmed · #15,219 worldwide 759 citations · 50 works
  10. 10 H.H. Masjuki · #15,955 worldwide 1.3k citations · 106 works
Top researchers in Malaysia

Which cities in Malaysia are research hubs?

  1. 1 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 181k works
  2. 2 Shah Alam Malaysia 51k works
  3. 3 Johor Bahru Malaysia 46k works
  4. 4 George Town Malaysia 46k works
  5. 5 Seri Kembangan Malaysia 42k works
  6. 6 Malacca Malaysia 20k works

How much of it is in the largest

The same cities as shares of everything these twelve account for.

Kuala Lumpur: 47.1%Shah Alam: 13.2%Johor Bahru: 11.9%George Town: 11.9%2 others listed: 15.9%47%largest
Kuala Lumpur181k · 47.1%Shah Alam51k · 13.2%Johor Bahru46k · 11.9%George Town46k · 11.9%2 others listed61k · 15.9%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

How open and international is Malaysia's research?

56% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 23% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available56.0%not open44.0%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors23.4%domestic only76.6%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Malaysia's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 42% 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 Malaysia