Cairo Univ. ranked 4th in Arab region, 521st internationally on Webometrics university ranking

31 / 07 / 2023

• news
• The New Republic

Cairo University ranked the fourth among Arab universities, fifth among African ones and 521^st internationally on the 2023 Webometrics Ranking of World Universities issued in July.

This is the second year in a row for Cairo University to come at the top of Egyptian universities listed on “Webometrics Ranking of World Universities” which groups 31, 000 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from more than 200 countries.

Alexandria university occupied the fifth position at the Arab level and the 525^th internationally, followed by Mansoura University in the 14^th position regionally and 883^rd internationally, Ain Shams University in the 15^th position regionally and 896^th internationally.

Future University came in the 17^th position regionally and 981^st internationally, followed by the American University in Cairo 21^st regionally and 1069^th internationally, Zagazig University 23^rd regionally and 1089^th internationally, Benha University 24^th regionally and 1158^th internationally, and Assiut University 26^th regionally and 1173^rd internationally.

The rankings also included Al Azhar University which occupied the 28^th position regionally and 1204^th internationally, followed by Tanta University the 31^st regionally and 1356^th internationally, Menoufia University the 42nd regionally and 1575^th internationally, Helwan University the 43^rd regionally and 1582^nd internationally, and Kafr El Sheikh University the 44^th regionally and 1583 internationally.

A total of 79 Egyptian universities were included in the 2023 Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, marking a slight rise compared to the previous year which included 76 Egyptian universities.

The Ranking Web or Webometrics which is the largest academic ranking of Higher Education Institutions offering every six months an independent, objective, free, open scientific exercise for providing reliable, multidimensional, updated and useful information about the performance of universities from all over the world.

The Webometrics uses link analysis for quality evaluation as it is a far more powerful tool than citation analysis or global surveys. In the first case, bibliometrics only counts formal recognition between peers, while links not only includes bibliographic citations but also third parties involvement with university activities.

Surveys are not a suitable tool for World Rankings as there is not even a single individual with a deep (several semesters per institution), multi-institutional (several dozen), multidisciplinary (hard sciences, biomedicine, social sciences, technologies) experience in a representative sample (different continents) of universities worldwide.

Research output is also key topic for Webometrics, but including not only formal (e-journals, repositories) publications but also informal scholarly communication. Web publication is cheaper, maintaining the high standards of quality of peer review processes. It could also reach much larger potential audiences, offering access to scientific knowledge to researchers and institutions located in developing countries and also to third parties (economic, industrial, political or cultural stakeholders) in their local community.

The primary objective of the Webometrics is to promote Open Access to the knowledge generated by the University.