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🎓 Top Research Universities in Sri Lanka

Universities and colleges in Sri Lanka ranked by the total citations their research has received (OpenAlex).

📅 2026📏 citations33 entries🇱🇰 See all of this country’s rankings →
Every dot is one entry, placed by its value (citations, logarithmic scale); the vertical bar marks each row’s median.
1
University of Peradeniya16,198 papers
677,006
2
University of Colombo15,227 papers
430,050
3
University of Sri Jayewardenepura10,945 papers
218,726
4
University of Kelaniya8,429 papers
214,900
5
University of Moratuwa9,701 papers
195,914
6
University of Ruhuna6,519 papers
150,182
7
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka3,003 papers
74,946
8
University of Jaffna3,659 papers
74,886
9
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology4,081 papers
61,967
10
Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka2,876 papers
39,714
11
Uva Wellassa University1,867 papers
34,605
12
Wayamba University of Sri Lanka2,484 papers
31,071
13
Open University of Sri Lanka2,555 papers
24,627
14
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University2,257 papers
20,996
15
Eastern University, Sri Lanka1,929 papers
16,677
16
South Eastern University of Sri Lanka1,385 papers
13,517
17
Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka769 papers
9,853
18
Informatics Institute of Technology529 papers
3,318
19
NSBM Green University427 papers
2,033
20
KIU University Sri Lanka210 papers
1,556
21
Ladies College12 papers
1,279
22
CINEC Campus (Pvt) Ltd.246 papers
882
23
University of Vocational Technology192 papers
604
24
Sri Lanka Law College76 papers
586
25
National Institute of Business Management47 papers
438
26
National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka66 papers
397
27
University of the Visual & Performing Arts143 papers
222
28
University Grants Commission Sri Lanka12 papers
165
29
ESOFT Uni66 papers
156
30
Eco Astronomy Inc18 papers
54
31
Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka79 papers
43
32
Buddhasravaka Bhiksu University30 papers
28
33
Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies12 papers
7

Highlights

Within Sri Lanka, University of Peradeniya ranks first in 2026 with 677,006, followed by University of Colombo (430,050) and University of Sri Jayewardenepura (218,726).

University of Peradeniya is 1.6 times higher than University of Colombo, the runner-up.

Across 33 entries, values run from 677,006 (University of Peradeniya) to 7 (Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies), with a median of 9,853.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers, 2026. Unit: citations.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers · CC0 1.0 (OpenAlex) · fetched Oct 13, 2026 — Counts every citation to papers by authors affiliated with the institution, so large and old universities score high. It measures research impact, not teaching quality.