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University · Port Elizabeth · South Africa

Nelson Mandela University

In research, Nelson Mandela University stands highest in Social Sciences (#293 of 6,365 worldwide), Social Sciences (#612 of 10,521 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#2,950 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Anthropology and Nature and Landscape Conservation — Anthropology is 5.6× its share of world research.

mandela.ac.zaROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,458
of 28,054 · #4,224 all time
Rank in South Africa
#14
of 87
Research works
8.3k
▲ 32% vs 2013–17
Citations
95k
11.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
52%
world 28%

What is Nelson Mandela 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
Social SciencesField #293 of 6,365 25.8%527 #607
Social SciencesDomain #612 of 10,521 25.7%981 #1098
Physical SciencesDomain #2,950 of 12,888 17.5%747 #4398
Environmental ScienceField #852 of 3,551 22.6%250 #1046
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #664 of 2,578 25.2%145 #941
Health SciencesDomain #3,124 of 11,982 11.9%192 #4581
EducationSubfield #615 of 1,892 31.4%110 #673
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #583 of 1,775 37.0%119 #1267
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #1,224 of 3,409 10.4%181 #1870
Economics and EconometricsSubfield #512 of 1,272 42.8%81 #1204

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Nelson Mandela 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. Social Sciences#607 #293
  2. Social Sciences#1,098 #612
  3. Physical Sciences#4,398 #2,950
  4. Environmental Science#1,046 #852
  5. Sociology and Political Science#941 #664
  6. Health Sciences#4,581 #3,124
  7. Education#673 #615
  8. Economics, Econometrics and Finance#1,267 #583
  9. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#1,870 #1,224
  10. Economics and Econometrics#1,204 #512
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 Nelson Mandela University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Anthropology takes 5.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. AnthropologySubfield · 34.3 works5.6×
  2. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 25.1 works4.8×
← 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: 1.75× its world share, 181 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.39× its world share, 45 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.31× its world share, 7 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.24× its world share, 8 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.94× its world share, 15 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.45× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.71× its world share, 58 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.66× its world share, 111 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.49× its world share, 51 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.71× its world share, 14 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.55× its world share, 179 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.31× its world share, 250 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.68× its world share, 52 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.88× its world share, 22 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.12× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.98× its world share, 56 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.29× its world share, 120 worksMedicineNursing: 1.13× its world share, 12 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.18× its world share, 4 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.25× its world share, 78 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.82× its world share, 128 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.83× its world share, 38 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.56× its world share, 119 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.35× its world share, 90 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.91× its world share, 527 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 2.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Nelson Mandela University?

Ranked on the composite score, Mark Watson, Rossouw von Solms and Richard M. Cowling lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Nelson Mandela University.

  1. 1 Mark Watson South Africa · #25,598 worldwide 588 citations · 41 works
  2. 2 Rossouw von Solms South Africa · #37,788 worldwide 339 citations · 51 works
  3. 3 Richard M. Cowling South Africa · #47,658 worldwide 759 citations · 78 works
  4. 4 Anton McLachlan South Africa · #97,644 worldwide 243 citations · 26 works
  5. 5 Joris P. G. M. Cromsigt South Africa · #131,561 worldwide 338 citations · 31 works
  6. 6 Janine B. Adams South Africa · #188,234 worldwide 236 citations · 52 works
  7. 7 Tuntufye S. Mwamwenda South Africa · #214,761 worldwide 130 citations · 48 works
  8. 8 Matt W. Hayward South Africa · #215,033 worldwide 221 citations · 42 works
  9. 9 Alastair Potts South Africa · #280,861 worldwide 93 citations · 20 works
  10. 10 Maarten de Wit South Africa · #338,262 worldwide 162 citations · 28 works
All ranked researchers at Nelson Mandela University

Which keywords describe research at Nelson Mandela University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Medicinal Plants, Globalization, Biogeography, Anti-inflammatory, Sustainability, Invasive Species and Human Rights.

▲ 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. Climate Change149▲ 2.5×83 topics
  2. Globalization93▲ 2.2×65 topics
  3. Sustainability92▲ 1.74×67 topics
  4. Human Rights65▲ 2.9×34 topics
  5. Medicinal Plants59▲ 6.8×13 topics
  6. Economic Growth59▲ 3.2×21 topics
  7. Antioxidant56▲ 3.8×31 topics
  8. Biogeography49▲ 8.7×17 topics
  9. Invasive Species49▲ 5.3×18 topics
  10. Biodiversity48▲ 3.0×27 topics
  11. Conservation47▲ 5.0×21 topics
  12. Higher Education47▲ 4.0×18 topics
  13. Anti-inflammatory47▲ 7.7×19 topics
  14. Social Capital42▲ 3.6×15 topics
  15. Colonialism40▲ 3.9×14 topics
  16. Population Dynamics40▲ 7.2×10 topics
  17. Risk Management38▲ 3.6×10 topics
  18. Neoliberalism35▲ 4.4×17 topics
  19. Inequality34▲ 6.8×8 topics
  20. Drug Discovery33▲ 6.9×8 topics
  21. Herbal Medicine32▲ 5.1×10 topics
  22. Phytochemistry32▲ 12×7 topics
  23. Equality31▲ 24×4 topics
  24. Trophic Cascades31▲ 15×2 topics
  25. Environmental Governance29▲ 21×4 topics
  26. Consumer Protection29▲ 30×2 topics
  27. Biological Activities28▲ 8.2×7 topics
  28. Legal Research28▲ 9.9×2 topics
  29. Public Participation28▲ 57×2 topics
  30. Constitutionalism28▲ 13×2 topics
  31. Judicial Review28▲ 14×3 topics
  32. Developmental Local Government28▲ 116×1 topic
  33. Socio-Economic Rights28▲ 116×1 topic
  34. South Africa27▲ 46×3 topics
  35. Traditional Ecological Knowledge27▲ 30×2 topics
  36. Ethnobotanical Survey27▲ 40×1 topic
  37. Phytochemical Constituents27▲ 42×1 topic
  38. Poverty Reduction26▲ 9.1×5 topics
  39. Sustainable Development Goals26▲ 6.9×6 topics
  40. Taxonomy24▲ 8.6×9 topics

Which research topics does Nelson Mandela University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Legal Issues in South Africa, Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies, Phytochemistry and Biological Activities and South African History and Culture.

Legal Issues in South Af…28Legal Issues in South Africa: 28 fractional worksEthnobotanical and Medic…27Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies: 27 fractional worksPhytochemistry and Biolo…21Phytochemistry and Biological Activities: 21 fractional worksSouth African History an…19South African History and Culture: 19 fractional worksWildlife Ecology and Conservation: 19 fractional worksCoastal and Marine Management: 18 fractional worksConstruction Project Man…14Construction Project Management and Performance: 14 fractional worksPlant Diversity and Evol…14Plant Diversity and Evolution: 14 fractional worksMarine and fisheries res…12Marine and fisheries research: 12 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation D…12Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 12 fractional works
LawPlant ScienceSociology and Political ScienceEcology5 others

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

  1. 1 Legal Issues in South Africa Law 28 works
  2. 2 Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies Plant Science 27 works
  3. 3 Phytochemistry and Biological Activities Plant Science 21 works
  4. 4 South African History and Culture Sociology and Political Science 19 works
  5. 5 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Ecology 19 works
  6. 6 Coastal and Marine Management Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 18 works
  7. 7 Construction Project Management and Performance Management Science and Operations Research 14 works
  8. 8 Plant Diversity and Evolution Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 14 works
  9. 9 Marine and fisheries research Global and Planetary Change 12 works
  10. 10 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 12 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 available51.5%not open48.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.7%domestic only80.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Nelson Mandela University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 32% 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 Port Elizabeth

All research institutions in Port Elizabeth

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.