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Science in South Africa

South Africa ranks #34 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#33 all time), with 113k research works and 21.5% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#34
of 192 · #33 all time
Works, 2022–2025
113k
▲ 19% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
21.5%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
8 in the top 1,000
Open access
49%
world 63%

What is South Africa strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, South Africa ranks highest in Arts and Humanities (#9 of 106), Social Sciences (#13 of 151) and Education (#11 of 115). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Archeology, Religious studies and Public Administration.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Arts and HumanitiesField #9 of 106 26.6%4,267 Institutions
Social SciencesField #13 of 151 26.6%24,206 Institutions
EducationSubfield #11 of 115 32.6%5,952 Institutions
LawSubfield #5 of 48 25.0%1,534 Institutions
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #16 of 126 24.5%6,949 Institutions
Religious studiesSubfield #3 of 23 28.0%1,019 Institutions
Infectious DiseasesSubfield #11 of 72 20.9%1,774 Institutions
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #17 of 110 29.9%4,303 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #19 of 122 24.5%7,114 Institutions
Economics and EconometricsSubfield #16 of 101 32.1%3,069 Institutions
Business, Management and AccountingField #21 of 113 23.6%6,277 Institutions
General Agricultural and Biological SciencesSubfield #9 of 48 37.9%513

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. ArcheologySubfield · 182.2 works11×
  2. Religious studiesSubfield · 1,019.3 works5.4×
  3. Public AdministrationSubfield · 245.3 works4.0×
  4. Research and TheorySubfield · 116.7 works4.0×
  5. Business and International ManagementSubfield · 444.1 works3.7×
  6. VirologySubfield · 219.0 works3.3×
  7. Safety ResearchSubfield · 1,039.0 works3.3×
  8. DevelopmentSubfield · 374.4 works3.3×
← 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: 1.29× its world share, 6,949 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.61× its world share, 3,657 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.86× its world share, 978 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.38× its world share, 690 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.77× its world share, 307 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.76× its world share, 301 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.79× its world share, 1,396 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.64× its world share, 5,592 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.85× its world share, 1,503 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.11× its world share, 1,155 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.66× its world share, 11k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.40× its world share, 7,857 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.70× its world share, 2,747 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.95× its world share, 1,258 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.67× its world share, 1,679 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.44× its world share, 242 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.44× its world share, 4,298 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.68× its world share, 15k worksMedicineNursing: 1.41× its world share, 784 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.10× its world share, 168 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.31× its world share, 4,266 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.72× its world share, 6,277 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.62× its world share, 1,768 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.78× its world share, 4,303 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.33× its world share, 4,589 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.69× its world share, 24k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 1.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in South Africa?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Sustainability, Higher Education, Colonialism, Climate Change, Human Rights, South Africa and Epidemiology.

▲ 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. Climate Change4,337▲ 1.42×130 topics
  2. Sustainability4,278▲ 1.55×136 topics
  3. Epidemiology4,222◆ 0.94×140 topics
  4. Globalization3,940▲ 1.78×174 topics
  5. Human Rights2,948▲ 2.5×87 topics
  6. Mental Health2,717▲ 1.64×48 topics
  7. Environmental Impact2,498▲ 1.30×72 topics
  8. Higher Education2,420▲ 4.0×33 topics
  9. Colonialism2,308▲ 4.3×49 topics
  10. Renewable Energy2,272▲ 1.40×61 topics
  11. Economic Growth2,204▲ 2.3×36 topics
  12. Education2,170◆ 1.12×149 topics
  13. Sustainable Development2,153▲ 1.20×109 topics
  14. Social Justice1,901▲ 2.9×51 topics
  15. Social Capital1,728▲ 2.9×21 topics
  16. Supply Chain Management1,720▲ 1.63×27 topics
  17. Development1,387▲ 3.5×23 topics
  18. South Africa1,370▲ 45×4 topics
  19. Nationalism1,367▲ 2.6×32 topics
  20. Inequality1,254▲ 4.8×17 topics
  21. Environmental Governance1,196▲ 16×5 topics
  22. Antiretroviral Therapy1,158▲ 6.3×6 topics
  23. Equality1,148▲ 17×8 topics
  24. Public Participation1,109▲ 44×3 topics
  25. Poverty Reduction1,108▲ 7.4×7 topics
  26. Judicial Review1,089▲ 11×5 topics
  27. Constitutionalism1,066▲ 9.8×5 topics
  28. Consumer Protection1,066▲ 21×4 topics
  29. Legal Research1,054▲ 7.1×3 topics
  30. Developmental Local Government1,042▲ 84×1 topic
  31. Socio-Economic Rights1,042▲ 84×1 topic
  32. Gender-based Violence1,013▲ 16×3 topics
  33. Race1,012▲ 8.0×19 topics
  34. Postcolonialism982▲ 7.0×18 topics
  35. NGOs849▲ 7.5×5 topics
  36. Poverty Alleviation845▲ 7.6×3 topics
  37. Decolonization838▲ 9.2×8 topics
  38. economic empowerment799▲ 45×2 topics
  39. post-apartheid798▲ 90×1 topic
  40. protests798▲ 90×1 topic

How many world-class institutions does South Africa 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 500th3501st to 1,000th5

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 8 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in South Africa lead research?

University of Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand and University of South Africa rank highest in South Africa on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%10%20%30%mean 22.1%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Johannesburg: 13k, 26.4%University of the Witwatersrand: 8,505, 21.6%University of South Africa: 8,955, 23.7%North-West University: 5,803, 24.0%University of Cape Town: 6,614, 21.4%University of Pretoria: 8,721, 20.4%Stellenbosch University: 7,719, 19.5%University of KwaZulu-Natal: 7,528, 21.6%University of the Free State: 4,887, 22.8%University of the Western Cape: 3,090, 22.8%Durban University of Technology: 2,950, 20.5%Tshwane University of Technology: 2,748, 18.8%South African Medical Research Council: 1,002, 26.1%Nelson Mandela University: 2,177, 19.8%Walter Sisulu University: 2,079, 22.1%University of Johann…North-West UniversityUniversity of South …University of the Wi…
above the meannear itbelow it

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

  1. 1University of JohannesburgUniversity · Johannesburg · #205 worldwide26.4% top 10% · 13k works
  2. 2University of the WitwatersrandUniversity · Johannesburg · #387 worldwide21.6% top 10% · 8.5k works
  3. 3University of South AfricaUniversity · Pretoria · #470 worldwide23.7% top 10% · 9k works
  4. 4North-West UniversityUniversity · Potchefstroom · #579 worldwide24.0% top 10% · 5.8k works
  5. 5University of Cape TownUniversity · Rondebosch · #611 worldwide21.4% top 10% · 6.6k works
  6. 6University of PretoriaUniversity · Pretoria · #691 worldwide20.4% top 10% · 8.7k works
  7. 7Stellenbosch UniversityUniversity · Stellenbosch · #698 worldwide19.5% top 10% · 7.7k works
  8. 8University of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity · Durban · #791 worldwide21.6% top 10% · 7.5k works
  9. 9University of the Free StateUniversity · Bloemfontein · #1,158 worldwide22.8% top 10% · 4.9k works
  10. 10University of the Western CapeUniversity · Cape Town · #1,519 worldwide22.8% top 10% · 3.1k works
  11. 11Durban University of TechnologyUniversity · Durban · #1,680 worldwide20.5% top 10% · 3k works
  12. 12Tshwane University of TechnologyUniversity · Pretoria · #1,904 worldwide18.8% top 10% · 2.7k works
  13. 13South African Medical Research CouncilInstitution · Cape Town · #2,375 worldwide26.1% top 10% · 1k works
  14. 14Nelson Mandela UniversityUniversity · Port Elizabeth · #2,458 worldwide19.8% top 10% · 2.2k works
  15. 15Walter Sisulu UniversityUniversity · Mthatha · #2,669 worldwide22.1% top 10% · 2.1k 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 South Africa

Who are the top researchers in South Africa?

André Pascal Kengne, Aletta E. Schutte and Aristotle  rank highest among researchers based in South Africa.

  1. 1 André Pascal Kengne · #120 worldwide 4.5k citations · 130 works
  2. 2 Aletta E. Schutte · #385 worldwide 4.6k citations · 105 works
  3. 3 Aristotle  · #590 worldwide 659 citations · 155 works
  4. 4 Charles Shey Wiysonge · #1,242 worldwide 4.2k citations · 85 works
  5. 5 Dan J. Stein · #1,863 worldwide 7.7k citations · 620 works
  6. 6 Robert J. Scholes · #1,985 worldwide 1.7k citations · 134 works
  7. 7 Shabir A. Madhi · #3,410 worldwide 1.5k citations · 126 works
  8. 8 David M. Richardson · #3,615 worldwide 2.3k citations · 131 works
  9. 9 Bongani M. Mayosi · #4,541 worldwide 1.2k citations · 68 works
  10. 10 Guy F. Midgley · #5,582 worldwide 1.8k citations · 60 works
Top researchers in South Africa

Which cities in South Africa are research hubs?

  1. 1 Pretoria South Africa 118k works
  2. 2 Johannesburg South Africa 104k works
  3. 3 Durban South Africa 57k works
  4. 4 Rondebosch South Africa 50k works
  5. 5 Stellenbosch South Africa 46k works
  6. 6 Cape Town South Africa 43k works
  7. 7 Bloemfontein South Africa 25k works
  8. 8 Potchefstroom South Africa 25k works

How much of it is in the largest

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

Pretoria: 25.3%Johannesburg: 22.2%Durban: 12.1%Rondebosch: 10.7%4 others listed: 29.7%25%largest
Pretoria118k · 25.3%Johannesburg104k · 22.2%Durban57k · 12.1%Rondebosch50k · 10.7%4 others listed139k · 29.7%

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

How open and international is South Africa's research?

49% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 22% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available48.7%not open51.3%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors22.2%domestic only77.8%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has South Africa's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 19% 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 South Africa