According to the latest rankings by the 2024-2025 U.S. News & World Report, KNUST has a better global research reputation than the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast.
In the latest 2024-2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities rankings, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has outshone its local competitors, the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the University of Ghana (UG), in several key performance indicators, including global research reputation.
KNUST ranked an impressive #936 globally for its Global Research Reputation, surpassing UCC, which ranked #1121, and UG, which placed #693. This indicator shows the university’s growing international visibility and the impact of its research output on the global academic stage. This indicator, according to US News and World Report, is a compilation of the findings from the Academic Reputation Survey during the last five years for the top research-oriented universities worldwide.
In addition to this distinction, KNUST also outperformed both UCC and UG in several other crucial metrics. As a top research institution in Ghana and Africa, KNUST placed #15 in regional research reputation, ahead of UCC (#24) but behind UG (#8). This ranking shows KNUST’s strong influence within Africa and its ability to contribute significantly to regional academic discourse. Because it measured academics’ perceptions of other colleges in their region, this geographical factor dramatically enhanced the rankings’ international diversity. This indicator is exclusive to the U.S. News rankings; it has been used for ten years, starting with the 2024–2025 edition.
KNUST ranked #1238, outperforming UCC (#1772) and UG (#736) in academic book publishing. As per the rankings, books hold significant value as a publication medium for scholarly study, especially in the fields of social sciences, arts, and humanities. This rating indicator is a helpful addition to the article data and more accurately depicts universities with a social science, arts, and humanities focus.
KNUST’s #286 ranking significantly outperformed UCC (#27) and UG (#1422) in terms of citation impact, which measures how frequently the university’s research is referenced in other academic work. The rankings state that the total number of citations per paper, which is normalized to account for variations in study area, publication year, and publishing type, shows the overall impact of the university’s research and is independent of the size or age of the university.
Moreover, KNUST ranked #1021 in total citations, higher than both UCC (#1360) and UG (#1084). This factor, according to US News and World Report, gauges the university’s impact on the international research community. It is calculated by taking the normalized citation impact factor and multiplying it by the publications ranking factor. To account for variations in study area, paper publishing year, and publication type, the total number of citations has been standardized.
Again, KNUST secured a position of #126 in international collaboration, a factor that evaluates the percentage of its research conducted with international partners. This placed it ahead of both UCC (#261) and UG (#142).
Finally, in one scientific excellence indicator, KNUST ranked #1144, outperforming UCC (#1264) and UG (#1066) in the number of its most highly cited papers. This statistic, according to US News and World Report, displays the number of papers that the Clarivate’s Essential Science Indicators (ESI) service classifies as highly referenced. Highly cited articles are seen as markers of superior performance and scientific brilliance, and they can be used to compare research performance globally to baselines in the relevant fields.
| Indicator | KNUST | UCC | UG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Research Reputation | #936 | #1121 | #693 |
| Regional Research Reputation | #15 | #24 | #8 |
| Publications | #1264 | #1973 | #1027 |
| Books | #1238 | #1772 | #736 |
| Conferences | #1756 | #2088 | #1742 |
| Normalized Citation Impact | #286 | #27 | #1422 |
| Total Citations | #1021 | #1360 | #1084 |
| Number of Publications Among the 10% Most Cited | #1352 | #1747 | #1237 |
| International Collaboration | #126 | #261 | #142 |
| Number of Highly Cited Papers Among Top 1% Most Cited | #1144 | #1264 | #1066 |
These impressive performances across several key indicators show that KNUST is growing in prominence as a research powerhouse, both regionally and internationally. This will bode the Kumasi-based university well for its future ranking performance and its potential to attract global partnerships and investments in research.
