Top Countries in Political Science and International Relations Research
United States ranks first in 2022–2025, out of 97 ranked countries.
Composite score: field-normalised excellence, output and total citations weighted 50 / 30 / 20, each as a percentile so no single heavy-tailed measure dominates. Floor: 100 fractional works in this field.
Ranked by research quality, 2022–2025
| # | Country | Score | Top-10% rate | Works | Citations | All time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 100.0 | 17.2% | 40k | 69k | #1 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 84.8 | 24.3% | 17k | 42k | #2 |
| 3 | Germany | 76.0 | 19.2% | 16k | 26k | #3 |
| 4 | China | 69.7 | 25.1% | 8.8k | 22k | #8 |
| 5 | Italy | 64.8 | 24.3% | 5.5k | 12k | #7 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 60.8 | 30.0% | 3.9k | 13k | #4 |
| 7 | Indonesia | 57.5 | 13.2% | 37k | 27k | #12 |
| 8 | Australia | 54.5 | 22.6% | 5.4k | 11k | #5 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 52.0 | 22.4% | 2.7k | 7.2k | #10 |
| 10 | Canada | 49.7 | 19.3% | 5.7k | 9.5k | #6 |
| 11 | Sweden | 47.6 | 33.5% | 2.2k | 7.8k | #11 |
| 12 | Spain | 45.7 | 14.9% | 8.3k | 9.6k | #13 |
| 13 | Türkiye | 43.9 | 14.3% | 14k | 11k | #23 |
| 14 | Norway | 42.3 | 31.6% | 2k | 5.9k | #15 |
| 15 | France | 40.8 | 7.8% | 14k | 7k | #9 |
| 16 | Belgium | 39.4 | 24.8% | 2.5k | 6k | #14 |
| 17 | India | 38.1 | 13.8% | 8.5k | 7.2k | #21 |
| 18 | Poland | 36.8 | 10.0% | 14k | 8.3k | #19 |
| 19 | Denmark | 35.6 | 24.9% | 2.2k | 5.3k | #17 |
| 20 | Finland | 34.5 | 28.7% | 1.6k | 4.3k | #20 |
| 21 | Austria | 33.4 | 19.7% | 2.2k | 4k | #18 |
| 22 | South Africa | 32.4 | 25.0% | 2.2k | 4.2k | #25 |
| 23 | Russia | 31.5 | 10.4% | 16k | 11k | #16 |
| 24 | Brazil | 30.5 | 8.9% | 13k | 8.1k | #22 |
| 25 | Ukraine | 29.6 | 13.0% | 8.1k | 6.6k | #38 |
| 26 | Japan | 28.8 | 19.3% | 2.3k | 2.8k | #28 |
| 27 | Hong Kong | 28.0 | 33.0% | 951 | 3.1k | #24 |
| 28 | Hungary | 27.2 | 15.9% | 2.9k | 2.9k | #32 |
| 29 | Portugal | 26.4 | 20.2% | 1.8k | 2.9k | #30 |
| 30 | Ireland | 25.7 | 23.1% | 1k | 2.3k | #26 |
| 31 | Czechia | 24.9 | 20.9% | 1.9k | 2.8k | #35 |
| 32 | Israel | 24.2 | 21.5% | 1.3k | 2.5k | #27 |
| 33 | ?? | 23.6 | 12.0% | 3.3k | 2.5k | #37 |
| 34 | Mexico | 22.9 | 10.7% | 3.9k | 2.6k | #31 |
| 35 | Romania | 22.3 | 11.2% | 2.2k | 1.8k | #43 |
| 36 | South Korea | 21.7 | 21.9% | 1.3k | 2.2k | #36 |
| 37 | Greece | 21.1 | 24.2% | 886 | 1.7k | #34 |
| 38 | Bangladesh | 20.5 | 21.1% | 1.3k | 1.5k | #48 |
| 39 | Singapore | 19.9 | 28.6% | 642 | 1.8k | #29 |
| 40 | Kazakhstan | 19.4 | 15.3% | 1.7k | 1.4k | #51 |
| 41 | Pakistan | 18.8 | 11.3% | 3.8k | 2.4k | #42 |
| 42 | Chile | 18.3 | 15.8% | 1.8k | 2k | #39 |
| 43 | Estonia | 17.8 | 28.5% | 415 | 1k | #41 |
| 44 | Nigeria | 17.3 | 13.0% | 1.7k | 1.5k | #54 |
| 45 | Malaysia | 16.8 | 18.9% | 1.6k | 1.9k | #52 |
| 46 | Saudi Arabia | 16.3 | 20.7% | 441 | 1.1k | #58 |
| 47 | Jordan | 15.8 | 20.6% | 339 | 1.3k | #59 |
| 48 | Slovakia | 15.4 | 14.9% | 899 | 949 | #46 |
| 49 | Slovenia | 14.9 | 18.6% | 670 | 723 | #40 |
| 50 | United Arab Emirates | 14.5 | 19.9% | 453 | 866 | #56 |
| 51 | New Zealand | 14.1 | 21.3% | 692 | 1.3k | #33 |
| 52 | Thailand | 13.6 | 20.4% | 832 | 1k | #53 |
| 53 | Colombia | 13.2 | 13.5% | 2.1k | 1.8k | #49 |
| 54 | Ecuador | 12.8 | 15.4% | 1.4k | 885 | #65 |
| 55 | Argentina | 12.4 | 8.1% | 2.3k | 1.3k | #47 |
| 56 | Uzbekistan | 12.0 | 9.0% | 1.3k | 496 | #73 |
| 57 | Iran | 11.6 | 12.6% | 1.4k | 848 | #45 |
| 58 | Serbia | 11.2 | 18.0% | 860 | 822 | #61 |
| 59 | Vietnam | 10.9 | 17.1% | 666 | 841 | #69 |
| 60 | Taiwan | 10.5 | 26.7% | 494 | 1k | #50 |
| 61 | Bulgaria | 10.1 | 13.6% | 601 | 453 | #57 |
| 62 | Philippines | 9.8 | 16.6% | 710 | 864 | #63 |
| 63 | Qatar | 9.4 | 28.8% | 266 | 474 | #71 |
| 64 | Cyprus | 9.1 | 23.2% | 316 | 553 | #62 |
| 65 | Peru | 8.8 | 9.7% | 1.4k | 820 | #68 |
| 66 | Ethiopia | 8.4 | 23.7% | 618 | 1k | #70 |
| 67 | Croatia | 8.1 | 9.1% | 1.1k | 647 | #55 |
| 68 | Luxembourg | 7.8 | 19.6% | 310 | 589 | #44 |
| 69 | Georgia | 7.4 | 8.3% | 812 | 392 | #81 |
| 70 | Iraq | 7.1 | 6.3% | 1.4k | 431 | #75 |
| 71 | Kenya | 6.8 | 13.7% | 535 | 530 | #67 |
| 72 | Ghana | 6.5 | 27.5% | 313 | 527 | #60 |
| 73 | Morocco | 6.2 | 9.4% | 698 | 348 | #72 |
| 74 | Latvia | 5.9 | 10.8% | 687 | 491 | #64 |
| 75 | Lithuania | 5.6 | 12.7% | 804 | 603 | #66 |
| 76 | Kyrgyzstan | 5.3 | 14.0% | 436 | 226 | #91 |
| 77 | Egypt | 5.0 | 10.4% | 560 | 454 | #74 |
| 78 | Armenia | 4.8 | 7.9% | 690 | 320 | #97 |
| 79 | Azerbaijan | 4.5 | 9.2% | 718 | 301 | #89 |
| 80 | Afghanistan | 4.2 | 17.7% | 369 | 319 | #96 |
| 81 | Tanzania | 3.9 | 17.8% | 255 | 316 | #86 |
| 82 | Nepal | 3.7 | 12.9% | 458 | 369 | #88 |
| 83 | Algeria | 3.4 | 7.4% | 611 | 139 | #77 |
| 84 | Albania | 3.1 | 12.8% | 336 | 208 | #93 |
| 85 | Lebanon | 2.9 | 17.0% | 232 | 208 | #76 |
| 86 | North Macedonia | 2.6 | 14.7% | 276 | 207 | #82 |
| 87 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2.4 | 8.4% | 438 | 183 | #90 |
| 88 | Uganda | 2.1 | 18.0% | 212 | 206 | #83 |
| 89 | Tajikistan | 1.9 | 10.9% | 410 | 214 | #99 |
| 90 | Sri Lanka | 1.6 | 13.8% | 267 | 244 | #84 |
| 91 | Tunisia | 139.6 | 11.4% | 240 | 183 | #92 |
| 92 | Uruguay | 115.7 | 10.0% | 298 | 233 | #85 |
| 93 | Venezuela | 92.1 | 7.4% | 297 | 144 | #80 |
| 94 | Costa Rica | 68.7 | 6.3% | 373 | 147 | #94 |
| 95 | Bolivia | 45.5 | 8.6% | 281 | 137 | #95 |
| 96 | Moldova | 22.7 | 2.5% | 512 | 85 | — |
| 97 | Belarus | 0.0 | 3.8% | 367 | 117 | — |
countries ranked worldwide in Political Science and International Relations (97). rank on the composite score within the stated pool. The score track runs 0 to 100; the rate track carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field.
How spread out this pool is
Every row above on one axis — one tick each, right is a higher score. A field where the top few are far clear of everyone and one that runs down evenly look identical as a table.
One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.