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University · Potchefstroom · South Africa

North-West University

In research, North-West University stands highest in Arts and Humanities (#7 of 1,998 worldwide), Social Sciences (#84 of 10,521 worldwide) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#67 of 3,409 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Religious studies, Linguistics and Language and Safety Research — Religious studies is 14.3× its share of world research.

nwu.ac.zaROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#579
of 28,054 · #1,097 all time
Rank in South Africa
#4
of 87
Research works
25k
▼ 3% vs 2013–17
Citations
322k
12.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
60%
world 28%

What is North-West 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
Arts and HumanitiesField #7 of 1,998 32.0%357 #6
Social SciencesDomain #84 of 10,521 27.4%2,881 #211
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #67 of 3,409 31.4%467 #207
Social SciencesField #264 of 6,365 28.1%1,405 #335
Health SciencesDomain #522 of 11,982 22.2%698 #1516
Plant ScienceSubfield #64 of 1,395 36.3%213 #211
Religious studiesSubfield #5 of 70 41.1%139 #5
EducationSubfield #143 of 1,892 36.7%301 #255
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #199 of 2,578 28.0%467 #348
Life SciencesDomain #684 of 7,800 26.4%742 #1345

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where North-West 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. Arts and Humanities#6 #7
  2. Social Sciences#211 #84
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#207 #67
  4. Social Sciences#335 #264
  5. Health Sciences#1,516 #522
  6. Plant Science#211 #64
  7. Religious studies#5 #5
  8. Education#255 #143
  9. Sociology and Political Science#348 #199
  10. Life Sciences#1,345 #684
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 North-West University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Religious studies takes 14.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Religious studiesSubfield · 138.5 works14×
  2. Linguistics and LanguageSubfield · 42.3 works6.4×
  3. Safety ResearchSubfield · 66.4 works4.1×
  4. DevelopmentSubfield · 20.5 works3.5×
  5. Business and International ManagementSubfield · 21.0 works3.4×
← 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: 1.70× its world share, 467 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.56× its world share, 173 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.65× its world share, 38 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.37× its world share, 34 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.43× its world share, 29 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.07× its world share, 22 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.69× its world share, 62 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.52× its world share, 236 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.53× its world share, 48 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.02× its world share, 54 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.42× its world share, 364 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.28× its world share, 370 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.48× its world share, 98 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.12× its world share, 76 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.17× its world share, 151 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.36× its world share, 208 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.39× its world share, 433 worksMedicineNursing: 1.53× its world share, 44 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.48× its world share, 12 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.13× its world share, 357 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.06× its world share, 386 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.79× its world share, 100 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.15× its world share, 267 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.07× its world share, 366 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.91× its world share, 1,405 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 2.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at North-West University?

Ranked on the composite score, Aletta E. Schutte, Amandeep Dhir and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola lead among researchers whose main affiliation is North-West University.

  1. 1 Aletta E. Schutte · #385 worldwide 4.6k citations · 105 works
  2. 2 Amandeep Dhir · #23,923 worldwide 1.1k citations · 70 works
  3. 3 Olubukola Oluranti Babalola · #53,726 worldwide 775 citations · 94 works
  4. 4 Eno E. Ebenso · #60,574 worldwide 1.4k citations · 140 works
  5. 5 Puneet Kaur · #79,427 worldwide 459 citations · 33 works
  6. 6 Mark Kramer · #84,379 worldwide 1.4k citations · 23 works
  7. 7 Mitchell A. Petersen · #142,328 worldwide 750 citations · 19 works
  8. 8 Angus Morrison‐Saunders · #143,119 worldwide 358 citations · 68 works
  9. 9 Abayomi Samuel Oyekale · #147,513 worldwide 105 citations · 42 works
  10. 10 Jenny Pope · #160,644 worldwide 221 citations · 25 works
All ranked researchers at North-West University

Which keywords describe research at North-West University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Mental Health, Human Rights, Social Justice, Economic Growth, Development, Higher Education and Public Participation.

▲ 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. Globalization240▲ 2.1×107 topics
  2. Mental Health211▲ 2.5×43 topics
  3. Sustainability201▲ 1.42×82 topics
  4. Climate Change182▲ 1.17×97 topics
  5. Human Rights166▲ 2.8×48 topics
  6. Economic Growth146▲ 3.0×32 topics
  7. Social Justice135▲ 4.0×35 topics
  8. Higher Education117▲ 3.7×26 topics
  9. Development106▲ 5.2×14 topics
  10. Religion105▲ 3.8×27 topics
  11. Colonialism102▲ 3.7×20 topics
  12. Resilience93▲ 3.3×15 topics
  13. Leadership91▲ 3.3×29 topics
  14. Social Capital89▲ 2.9×18 topics
  15. Well-being87▲ 3.9×14 topics
  16. Public Participation83▲ 63×3 topics
  17. Job Satisfaction82▲ 3.3×15 topics
  18. South Africa78▲ 49×4 topics
  19. Environmental Governance76▲ 20×4 topics
  20. African Christianity74▲ 58×2 topics
  21. NGOs74▲ 13×4 topics
  22. Equality74▲ 21×5 topics
  23. Inequality73▲ 5.5×11 topics
  24. Judicial Review71▲ 13×4 topics
  25. Consumer Protection70▲ 27×2 topics
  26. Constitutionalism69▲ 12×3 topics
  27. Developmental Local Government69▲ 108×1 topic
  28. Legal Research69▲ 9.1×1 topic
  29. Community Development61▲ 5.6×5 topics
  30. Race61▲ 9.4×12 topics
  31. Gender-based Violence60▲ 18×3 topics
  32. Welfare59▲ 20×2 topics
  33. Poverty Reduction59▲ 7.7×5 topics
  34. Multilingualism58▲ 6.0×4 topics
  35. Language Policy57▲ 7.0×5 topics
  36. Bilingual Education56▲ 8.2×3 topics
  37. Humanitarianism55▲ 15×3 topics
  38. International Aid55▲ 19×2 topics
  39. Civil Society54▲ 8.3×7 topics
  40. Theology52▲ 9.2×5 topics

Which research topics does North-West University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Legal Issues in South Africa, South African History and Culture, Religion, Society, and Development and Christian Theology and Mission.

Legal Issues in South Af…69Legal Issues in South Africa: 69 fractional worksSouth African History an…51South African History and Culture: 51 fractional worksReligion, Society, and D…51Religion, Society, and Development: 51 fractional worksChristian Theology and M…47Christian Theology and Mission: 47 fractional worksBiblical Studies and Interpretation: 45 fractional worksMultilingual Education and Policy: 34 fractional worksAfrican cultural and phi…31African cultural and philosophical studies: 31 fractional worksAfrican studies and soci…30African studies and sociopolitical issues: 30 fractional worksPoverty, Education, and …29Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare: 29 fractional worksResilience and Mental He…28Resilience and Mental Health: 28 fractional works
LawSociology and Political ScienceReligious studiesLinguistics and Language3 others

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

  1. 1 Legal Issues in South AfricaLaw 69 works
  2. 2 South African History and CultureSociology and Political Science 51 works
  3. 3 Religion, Society, and DevelopmentSociology and Political Science 51 works
  4. 4 Christian Theology and MissionReligious studies 47 works
  5. 5 Biblical Studies and InterpretationReligious studies 45 works
  6. 6 Multilingual Education and PolicyLinguistics and Language 34 works
  7. 7 African cultural and philosophical studiesEducation 31 works
  8. 8 African studies and sociopolitical issuesSociology and Political Science 30 works
  9. 9 Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSafety Research 29 works
  10. 10 Resilience and Mental HealthClinical Psychology 28 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 available60.1%not open39.9%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.8%domestic only80.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has North-West University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 3% lower 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 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.