Universities by Recent Research Citedness in South Africa
Universities and colleges ranked by OpenAlex's mean citedness for works published in the last two years. Recent citation rates vary by field and are not a measure of teaching quality. OpenAlex is an open scholarly index; larger and older institutions tend to have more indexed research.
1Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine6,454 works
6.85
2South African National Energy Development Institute41 works
6.50
3Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies188 works
6.44
4Midrand Graduate Institute48 works
6.33
6University of KwaZulu-Natal80,905 works
4.50
7University of the Witwatersrand103,532 works
4.45
8Institute for Security Studies240 works
4.33
9Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa290 works
4.31
10Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health580 works
4.15
11University of Johannesburg82,351 works
4.15
12African Institute for Mathematical Sciences2,166 works
4.12
13University of Fort Hare9,669 works
4.10
14Stellenbosch University85,297 works
3.85
15University of Pretoria92,782 works
3.80
16University of the Western Cape27,384 works
3.67
17University of Mpumalanga1,676 works
3.62
18University of South Africa50,641 works
3.28
19North-West University46,950 works
3.26
20Durban University of Technology13,030 works
3.20
21Regent Business School115 works
3.18
22Sol Plaatje University1,292 works
3.15
23University of Zululand6,600 works
3.03
24Rhodes University22,596 works
2.95
25Tshwane University of Technology15,270 works
2.92
26Regenesys Business School159 works
2.76
27International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology1,522 works
2.73
28Vaal University of Technology3,885 works
2.72
29Cape Peninsula University of Technology9,584 works
2.56
30Nelson Mandela University18,074 works
2.55
31Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University7,563 works
2.47
32University of the Free State40,308 works
2.37
33Mangosuthu University of Technology2,091 works
2.34
34Central University of Technology4,004 works
2.21
35Walter Sisulu University7,227 works
2.19
36University of Limpopo11,285 works
2.18
37University of Venda8,081 works
1.90
38University of Cape Town227,838 works
1.81
39Global Centre for Academic Research37 works
1.81
40Colleges of Medicine of South Africa50 works
1.44
41South African College of Applied Psychology56 works
1.41
42The Independent Institute of Education573 works
1.11
43International Centre for Education, Marine and Atmospheric Sciences over Africa16 works
1.00
44Da Vinci Institute111 works
0.89
45Management College of Southern Africa503 works
0.86
46Milpark Education58 works
0.83
47Cape Town Creative Academy9 works
0.75
50Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice30 works
0.67
Highlights
Within South Africa, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine ranks first in 2026 with 6.85, followed by South African National Energy Development Institute (6.50) and Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (6.44).
Across 50 entries, values run from 6.85 (Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine) to 0.67 (Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice), with a median of 2.84.
Source: OpenAlex, institutional Recent citedness, 2026. Unit: mean citations per work.
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