The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) has secured the leading position among Nigerian universities for scholarly output spanning from 2020 to 2023. As of January 7, 2024, the university has amassed an impressive 7025 publications, a result of collaborative efforts from 5813 authors. This achievement places UNN ahead of renowned institutions such as the University of Ibadan and the University of Ilorin.
The University of Ibadan (UI) closely trails behind UNN, securing the second spot with 6978 publications and 4732 contributing authors. UNILORIN claims the third position, generating 3714 publications with contributions from 2739 authors. The University of Lagos follows closely behind UNILORIN, with 3552 publications contributed by 2606 authors.
Other noteworthy institutions include Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in the 5th position with 3532 publications from 2731 authors, and Covenant University securing the 6th position with 3432 publications contributed by 2303 authors.
Despite the University of Nigeria’s significant research output, the University of Ibadan garnered more citations. Publications by UNN authors during the specified period received 44,741 citations, whereas UI attracted 68,318 citations, and UNILORIN accumulated 25,818 citations.
In terms of growth, the University of Nigeria demonstrated a substantial 21.9% increase in publication output from 2020 to 2022. In contrast, the University of Ibadan experienced a more modest 4.3% growth during the same period. UNILORIN emerges as the university with the highest growth at 25.5% among the top three institutions.
In authorship expansion, UNN reported an impressive 23.9% increase, followed by UNILORIN with 9.8%. The University of Ibadan ranked third with a marginal 0.5% growth in this aspect. Scopus underscores the importance of its data in university rankings, emphasising that its calculations exclusively rely on publications in journals indexed within its database, providing valuable insights into the genuine research performance of institutions.
In a separate report, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) celebrates the achievement of David Oluwatomiwa Akanmu, who emerged as the overall best-graduating student with a perfect CGPA of 5.0 in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Described as a “handsome young graduate with a perfect figure,” Akanmu’s accomplishments reflect the academic excellence fostered at UNILAG.
