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University · Suva · Fiji

University of the South Pacific

In research, University of the South Pacific stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,994 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#2,487 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#6,031 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Demography and Control and Systems Engineering — Demography is 6.7× its share of world research.

usp.ac.fjROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#6,016
of 28,054 · #5,961 all time
Rank in Fiji
#1
of 5
Research works
3.2k
▲ 46% vs 2013–17
Citations
57k
17.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
25.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
37%
world 28%

What is University of the South Pacific 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 SciencesDomain #1,994 of 10,521 29.4%263 #2151
Social SciencesField #2,487 of 6,365 28.5%163 #1669
Physical SciencesDomain #6,031 of 12,888 21.5%279 #4793
EngineeringField #3,675 of 6,636 20.0%108 #3039
Computer ScienceField #3,330 of 4,667 27.9%67 #3943
Environmental ScienceField #2,754 of 3,551 19.5%63 #2299

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of the South Pacific 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#2,151 #1,994
  2. Social Sciences#1,669 #2,487
  3. Physical Sciences#4,793 #6,031
  4. Engineering#3,039 #3,675
  5. Computer Science#3,943 #3,330
  6. Environmental Science#2,299 #2,754
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 University of the South Pacific specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Demography takes 6.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. DemographySubfield · 28.6 works6.7×
  2. Control and Systems EngineeringSubfield · 24.3 works3.6×
← 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: 0.96× its world share, 28 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.26× its world share, 9 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.17× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.33× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.35× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.25× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.27× its world share, 3 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.38× its world share, 67 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.56× its world share, 15 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.19× its world share, 7 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.15× its world share, 108 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.03× its world share, 63 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.28× its world share, 6 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.60× its world share, 4 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.41× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.81× its world share, 13 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.18× its world share, 22 worksMedicineNursing: 1.13× its world share, 4 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.26× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.56× its world share, 10 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.96× its world share, 39 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.33× its world share, 8 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.94× its world share, 26 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.88× its world share, 17 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.07× its world share, 163 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Social Sciences, 2.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of the South Pacific?

Ranked on the composite score, Andrew Pawley, Godfrey C. Onwubolu and Mark Stephens lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of the South Pacific.

  1. 1 Andrew Pawley Fiji · #157,743 worldwide 114 citations · 26 works
  2. 2 Godfrey C. Onwubolu Fiji · #176,083 worldwide 117 citations · 32 works
  3. 3 Mark Stephens Fiji · #246,410 worldwide 102 citations · 18 works
  4. 4 Hugh Govan Fiji · #258,881 worldwide 81 citations · 25 works
  5. 5 Maurizio Cirrincione Fiji · #335,536 worldwide 331 citations · 93 works
  6. 6 M. Rafiuddin Ahmed Fiji · #387,123 worldwide 125 citations · 42 works
  7. 7 Ronald Ravinesh Kumar Fiji · #389,101 worldwide 86 citations · 27 works
  8. 8 M. Karki Fiji · #477,492 worldwide 69 citations · 22 works
  9. 9 Doug Munro Fiji · #479,710 worldwide 16 citations · 36 works
  10. 10 Vijay Naidu Fiji · #479,870 worldwide 9 citations · 22 works
All ranked researchers at University of the South Pacific

Which keywords describe research at University of the South Pacific?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Sustainability, Vulnerability, Globalization, Climate Change, Governance, Economic Development, Resilience and Decolonization.

▲ 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. Sustainability58▲ 3.8×37 topics
  2. Climate Change49▲ 2.9×55 topics
  3. Globalization46▲ 3.8×38 topics
  4. Vulnerability41▲ 29×7 topics
  5. Machine Learning33▲ 1.60×50 topics
  6. Environmental Impact31▲ 3.0×31 topics
  7. Economic Development31▲ 6.1×16 topics
  8. Deep Learning31▲ 1.45×46 topics
  9. Governance28▲ 14×9 topics
  10. Resilience27▲ 9.1×9 topics
  11. Decolonization25▲ 50×3 topics
  12. Pacific24▲ 202×2 topics
  13. Islands23▲ 320×1 topic
  14. Small States23▲ 320×1 topic
  15. Economic Growth22▲ 4.2×17 topics
  16. Renewable Energy21▲ 2.3×26 topics
  17. Neural Networks16▲ 1.61×21 topics
  18. COVID-19 Impact15▲ 15×4 topics
  19. Path Planning13▲ 16×3 topics
  20. Multi-Agent Systems12▲ 10×2 topics
  21. Consumer Behavior12▲ 3.0×11 topics
  22. Collision Avoidance11▲ 10×4 topics
  23. Sea-Level Rise11▲ 15×5 topics
  24. Autonomous Vehicles10▲ 8.0×2 topics
  25. Adaptation10▲ 5.8×6 topics
  26. Migration10▲ 4.8×4 topics
  27. Community Perceptions10▲ 22×1 topic
  28. Destination Image10▲ 18×1 topic
  29. Sustainable Tourism10▲ 13×2 topics
  30. Tourist Satisfaction10▲ 15×2 topics
  31. Optimal Motion Planning9▲ 19×1 topic
  32. Sampling-Based Algorithms9▲ 19×1 topic
  33. Adaptive Control8▲ 10×4 topics
  34. Environmental Refugees8▲ 66×1 topic
  35. Natural Disasters8▲ 66×1 topic
  36. Global Trade8▲ 6.6×5 topics
  37. Vibration Analysis8▲ 4.8×5 topics
  38. Particle Swarm Optimization8▲ 10×3 topics
  39. Stability Analysis8▲ 7.6×4 topics
  40. Ocean Acidification8▲ 17×3 topics

Which research topics does University of the South Pacific publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Island Studies and Pacific Affairs, Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research, Robotic Path Planning Algorithms and Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration.

Island Studies and Pacif…23Island Studies and Pacific Affairs: 23 fractional worksDiverse Aspects of Touri…10Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research: 10 fractional worksRobotic Path Planning Al…9Robotic Path Planning Algorithms: 9 fractional worksClimate Change, Adaptation, Migration: 8 fractional worksGlobal Public Health Policies and Epidemiology: 6 fractional worksCoastal and Marine Management: 6 fractional worksAdvanced Control Systems Design: 5 fractional worksCruise Tourism Development and Management: 5 fractional worksCoral and Marine Ecosystems Studies: 5 fractional worksTeacher Education and Leadership Studies: 5 fractional works
DemographySociology and Political ScienceComputer Vision and Pattern RecognitionOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management5 others

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

  1. 1 Island Studies and Pacific Affairs Demography 23 works
  2. 2 Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research Sociology and Political Science 10 works
  3. 3 Robotic Path Planning Algorithms Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 9 works
  4. 4 Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration Sociology and Political Science 8 works
  5. 5 Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management 6 works
  6. 6 Coastal and Marine Management Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 6 works
  7. 7 Advanced Control Systems Design Control and Systems Engineering 5 works
  8. 8 Cruise Tourism Development and Management Transportation 5 works
  9. 9 Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies Ecology 5 works
  10. 10 Teacher Education and Leadership Studies Education 5 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 available36.8%not open63.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors35.8%domestic only64.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of the South Pacific's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 46% 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 Suva

All research institutions in Suva

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.