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University · Nairobi · Kenya

Kenyatta University

In research, Kenyatta University stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#469 of 3,409 worldwide), Social Sciences (#1,990 of 10,521 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#1,543 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Business and International Management, Accounting and Linguistics and Language — Business and International Management is 9.2× its share of world research.

ku.ac.keROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,821
of 28,054 · #9,751 all time
Rank in Kenya
#6
of 75
Research works
7.3k
▲ 214% vs 2013–17
Citations
43k
5.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
8.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
82%
world 28%

What is Kenyatta University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #469 of 3,409 18.5%220 #857
Social SciencesDomain #1,990 of 10,521 7.7%1,789 #2990
Social SciencesField #1,543 of 6,365 10.4%698 #2146
Arts and HumanitiesField #716 of 1,998 14.2%87 #1217
Life SciencesDomain #2,906 of 7,800 17.4%278 #5087
Health SciencesDomain #6,358 of 11,982 6.0%394 #9931
Business, Management and AccountingField #1,491 of 2,578 4.1%512 #1930
MedicineField #6,178 of 10,443 6.6%243 #9430
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,545 of 2,578 12.0%156 #2331
AccountingSubfield #244 of 389 5.2%153 #786

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Kenyatta University sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#857 #469
  2. Social Sciences#2,990 #1,990
  3. Social Sciences#2,146 #1,543
  4. Arts and Humanities#1,217 #716
  5. Life Sciences#5,087 #2,906
  6. Health Sciences#9,931 #6,358
  7. Business, Management and Accounting#1,930 #1,491
  8. Medicine#9,430 #6,178
  9. Sociology and Political Science#2,331 #1,545
  10. Accounting#786 #244
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Kenyatta University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Business and International Management takes 9.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Business and International ManagementSubfield · 27.7 works9.2×
  2. AccountingSubfield · 153.2 works8.8×
  3. Linguistics and LanguageSubfield · 26.0 works7.9×
  4. Safety ResearchSubfield · 59.5 works7.5×
  5. Management Information SystemsSubfield · 81.3 works6.9×
  6. AnthropologySubfield · 55.3 works6.9×
  7. Management Science and Operations ResearchSubfield · 95.8 works6.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 1.62× its world share, 220 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.23× its world share, 34 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.41× its world share, 12 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.15× its world share, 7 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.46× its world share, 5 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.14× its world share, 6 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.43× its world share, 95 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.13× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.46× its world share, 12 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.21× its world share, 92 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.10× its world share, 157 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.13× its world share, 13 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.43× its world share, 15 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.09× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.42× its world share, 107 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.44× its world share, 243 worksMedicineNursing: 2.99× its world share, 42 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.27× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.05× its world share, 87 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 5.54× its world share, 512 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 4.07× its world share, 113 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 4.09× its world share, 251 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.47× its world share, 128 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.93× its world share, 698 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Business, Management and Accounting, 5.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Kenyatta University?

Ranked on the composite score, D.N. Mugendi, J.B. Kung’u and J. N. Mugwe lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Kenyatta University.

  1. 1 D.N. Mugendi · #136,010 worldwide 162 citations · 47 works
  2. 2 J.B. Kung’u · #145,073 worldwide 90 citations · 26 works
  3. 3 J. N. Mugwe · #259,004 worldwide 102 citations · 33 works
  4. 4 Monicah Mucheru‐Muna · #419,899 worldwide 127 citations · 39 works
  5. 5 Seán P. Kealy · #603,137 worldwide 0 citations · 24 works
  6. 6 Julius Gathogo · #605,410 worldwide 10 citations · 24 works
  7. 7 G. H. Martin · #632,171 worldwide 15 citations · 17 works
  8. 8 J. M. Mueke · #702,837 worldwide 61 citations · 26 works
  9. 9 Chris A. Shisanya · #730,699 worldwide 27 citations · 32 works
  10. 10 Steven Runo · #767,081 worldwide 26 citations · 19 works
All ranked researchers at Kenyatta University

Which keywords describe research at Kenyatta University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Risk Management, Social Capital, Poverty Reduction, Supply Chain Management, Leadership, Gender Equality, Corporate Governance and Innovation.

▲ 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 institution'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. Risk Management153▲ 11×11 topics
  2. Sustainability152▲ 2.2×53 topics
  3. Supply Chain Management148▲ 5.6×14 topics
  4. Social Capital144▲ 9.5×14 topics
  5. Poverty Reduction139▲ 37×5 topics
  6. Innovation132▲ 4.4×30 topics
  7. Globalization127▲ 2.2×55 topics
  8. Climate Change125▲ 1.62×61 topics
  9. Economic Growth121▲ 5.0×23 topics
  10. Corporate Governance120▲ 5.7×16 topics
  11. Leadership110▲ 8.0×15 topics
  12. Economic Development105▲ 4.5×15 topics
  13. Gender Equality105▲ 13×8 topics
  14. Financial Performance92▲ 5.5×9 topics
  15. Development78▲ 7.9×13 topics
  16. Entrepreneurship77▲ 7.0×10 topics
  17. Empowerment74▲ 27×3 topics
  18. Finance73▲ 13×3 topics
  19. Financial Inclusion72▲ 51×1 topic
  20. Microfinance72▲ 51×1 topic
  21. Regulation71▲ 4.6×15 topics
  22. Performance Measurement66▲ 8.1×5 topics
  23. Social Impact65▲ 5.7×12 topics
  24. SMEs64▲ 6.4×5 topics
  25. Financial Constraints61▲ 20×2 topics
  26. Gender Inequality60▲ 15×6 topics
  27. Financial Stability57▲ 9.9×6 topics
  28. Global Financial Crisis52▲ 13×2 topics
  29. Leadership Style52▲ 13×3 topics
  30. Performance Analysis52▲ 8.4×2 topics
  31. Ethical Identity52▲ 14×1 topic
  32. Conditional Cash Transfers50▲ 47×1 topic
  33. School Subsidies50▲ 47×1 topic
  34. Stakeholder Analysis47▲ 25×2 topics
  35. Employee Engagement47▲ 9.4×5 topics
  36. Supply Chain47▲ 7.8×6 topics
  37. Construction Projects46▲ 37×2 topics
  38. Cost Overruns46▲ 41×1 topic
  39. Project Success46▲ 41×1 topic
  40. Profitability46▲ 13×3 topics

Which research topics does Kenyatta University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Microfinance and Financial Inclusion, Islamic Finance and Banking Studies, Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare and Construction Project Management and Performance.

Microfinance and Financi…72Microfinance and Financial Inclusion: 72 fractional worksIslamic Finance and Bank…52Islamic Finance and Banking Studies: 52 fractional worksPoverty, Education, and …50Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare: 50 fractional worksConstruction Project Man…46Construction Project Management and Performance: 46 fractional worksWorking Capital and Financial Performance: 42 fractional worksGlobal Maternal and Child Health: 38 fractional worksChild Nutrition and Wate…36Child Nutrition and Water Access: 36 fractional worksPublic-Private Partnership Projects: 34 fractional worksInsurance and Financial Risk Management: 33 fractional worksBusiness Strategies and …29Business Strategies and Management Research: 29 fractional works
Economics and EconometricsAccountingSafety ResearchManagement Science and Operations Research3 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Microfinance and Financial InclusionEconomics and Econometrics 72 works
  2. 2 Islamic Finance and Banking StudiesAccounting 52 works
  3. 3 Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSafety Research 50 works
  4. 4 Construction Project Management and PerformanceManagement Science and Operations Research 46 works
  5. 5 Working Capital and Financial PerformanceAccounting 42 works
  6. 6 Global Maternal and Child HealthPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health 38 works
  7. 7 Child Nutrition and Water AccessNutrition and Dietetics 36 works
  8. 8 Public-Private Partnership ProjectsStrategy and Management 34 works
  9. 9 Insurance and Financial Risk ManagementEconomics and Econometrics 33 works
  10. 10 Business Strategies and Management ResearchManagement Science and Operations Research 29 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available81.8%not open18.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors12.2%domestic only87.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Kenyatta University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 214% 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.

Other research institutions in Nairobi

All research institutions in Nairobi

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.