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Science in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone ranks #153 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#166 all time), with 1.1k research works and 14.7% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#153
of 192 · #166 all time
Works, 2022–2025
1.1k
▲ 158% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
14.7%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
0 in the top 1,000
Open access
68%
world 63%

What is Sierra Leone strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Sierra Leone ranks highest in Medicine (#148 of 155) and Social Sciences (#147 of 151). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Horticulture, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology and Development.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
MedicineField #148 of 155 18.3%209 Institutions
Social SciencesField #147 of 151 12.8%209 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 · 2.5 works17×
  2. Applied Microbiology and BiotechnologySubfield · 5.6 works10×
  3. DevelopmentSubfield · 10.0 works9.0×
  4. Library and Information SciencesSubfield · 1.7 works8.0×
  5. VirologySubfield · 4.9 works7.6×
  6. Public AdministrationSubfield · 3.7 works6.3×
  7. Modeling and SimulationSubfield · 8.7 works5.7×
  8. Infectious DiseasesSubfield · 41.8 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: 2.38× its world share, 124 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.31× its world share, 18 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.63× its world share, 18 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.07× its world share, 1 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.57× its world share, 2 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.13× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.51× its world share, 43 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.39× its world share, 7 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.36× its world share, 4 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.32× its world share, 53 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.34× its world share, 73 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.16× its world share, 6 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.01× its world share, 13 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.64× its world share, 48 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.99× its world share, 208 worksMedicineNursing: 3.68× its world share, 20 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.67× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.55× its world share, 17 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.24× its world share, 79 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.04× its world share, 11 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 4.64× its world share, 109 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.79× its world share, 26 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.51× its world share, 209 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 4.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Sierra Leone?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Economic Growth, Fiscal Policy, Vaccine, Maternal Mortality, Governance, Poverty Reduction, Epidemiology and Pathogenesis.

▲ 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. Epidemiology68▲ 1.57×73 topics
  2. Economic Growth62▲ 6.7×20 topics
  3. Climate Change58▲ 1.95×55 topics
  4. Globalization50▲ 2.3×46 topics
  5. Sustainability49▲ 1.84×44 topics
  6. Public Health39▲ 2.4×38 topics
  7. Fiscal Policy37▲ 16×5 topics
  8. Vaccine34▲ 7.8×10 topics
  9. Pathogenesis33▲ 5.9×15 topics
  10. Governance31▲ 8.7×7 topics
  11. Immune Response31▲ 5.0×10 topics
  12. Maternal Mortality31▲ 13×5 topics
  13. Economic Development30▲ 3.4×19 topics
  14. Poverty Reduction29▲ 20×5 topics
  15. Community Health Workers29▲ 31×2 topics
  16. Health Inequalities28▲ 22×3 topics
  17. Institutional Quality28▲ 24×2 topics
  18. Risk Management28▲ 5.3×10 topics
  19. Child Mortality27▲ 35×1 topic
  20. Health Systems27▲ 35×1 topic
  21. Infectious Diseases26▲ 7.2×8 topics
  22. Smallholder Farmers26▲ 10×5 topics
  23. Regulation24▲ 4.1×10 topics
  24. Genetic Diversity24▲ 5.0×17 topics
  25. Transmission24▲ 41×3 topics
  26. Adaptation23▲ 7.4×6 topics
  27. Outbreak22▲ 57×2 topics
  28. Ebola Virus22▲ 74×1 topic
  29. Reservoirs22▲ 74×1 topic
  30. ICT21▲ 15×3 topics
  31. Monetary Policy20▲ 7.6×7 topics
  32. Corruption20▲ 11×6 topics
  33. Finance19▲ 9.1×3 topics
  34. Gender Equality19▲ 6.2×11 topics
  35. Inequality19▲ 7.5×5 topics
  36. Global Burden of Disease19▲ 6.9×4 topics
  37. Inclusive Development17▲ 37×2 topics
  38. Knowledge Economy17▲ 15×2 topics
  39. Mobile Phones17▲ 34×1 topic
  40. financial access17▲ 40×1 topic

Which universities in Sierra Leone lead research?

University of Sierra Leone, Njala University and Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre rank highest in Sierra Leone on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%mean 15.14%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Sierra Leone: 501, 13.0%Njala University: 307, 15.4%Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre: 105, 21.9%Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute: 73, 15.1%University of Makeni: 66, 10.3%Sierra Leone Urban R…Njala UniversitySierra Leone Agricul…University of Sierra…
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1University of Sierra LeoneUniversity · Freetown · #9,766 worldwide13.0% top 10% · 501 works
  2. 2Njala UniversityUniversity · Bo · #10,761 worldwide15.4% top 10% · 307 works
  3. 3Sierra Leone Urban Research CentreNonprofit · Freetown · #19,575 worldwide21.9% top 10% · 105 works
  4. 4Sierra Leone Agricultural Research InstituteResearch facility · Freetown · #22,274 worldwide15.1% top 10% · 73 works
  5. 5University of MakeniUniversity · Makeni · #22,825 worldwide10.3% top 10% · 66 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 Sierra Leone

Who are the top researchers in Sierra Leone?

Peter James, Foday Sahr and Luc Peiren rank highest among researchers based in Sierra Leone.

  1. 1 Peter James · #413,114 worldwide 19 citations · 26 works
  2. 2 Foday Sahr · #685,846 worldwide 47 citations · 23 works
  3. 3 Luc Peiren · #735,161 worldwide 0 citations · 17 works
  4. 4 Eldred Jones · #859,643 worldwide 23 citations · 16 works
  5. 5 Lamin R. Mansaray · #994,761 worldwide 62 citations · 15 works
  6. 6 Margaret L. Vickery · #1,316,609 worldwide 4 citations · 15 works
  7. 7 Emmanuel Tweneboah Senzu · #1,383,526 worldwide 6 citations · 17 works
Top researchers in Sierra Leone

How open and international is Sierra Leone's research?

68% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 41% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available68.4%not open31.6%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors40.7%domestic only59.3%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Sierra Leone's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 158% 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 Sierra Leone