ITS Research Intelligence
Ecuador University Research Rankings
Compare Ecuador universities using recent research output, citation impact, growth and a transparent research-performance score.
Research landscape
The current ITS Research Intelligence dataset contains 63 index-ready universities in Ecuador. Across those institutions, the average five-year research output is approximately 2,445 works and the average five-year citation count is approximately 7,625. The average publication-growth signal is 126.0%. These figures describe the institutions that pass the public quality gate; they are not intended to represent every tertiary institution in the country.
Country rankings are useful for benchmarking because they reduce some of the structural differences that make global comparisons difficult. They still should not be treated as a complete assessment of institutional quality: teaching, student outcomes, funding levels, research field mix and institutional mission are outside this research-performance score. The value of the page is in seeing who is producing research, how that activity is changing, and where citation visibility is concentrated.
Top research universities in Ecuador
| Rank | University | Country | Score | 5-year works | 5-year citations | Growth |
|---|
| #1 | Universidad San Francisco de Quito | Ecuador | 66.2 | 7,715 | 43,799 | 60.3% |
| #2 | Universidad Espíritu Santo | Ecuador | 65.7 | 3,599 | 30,256 | 89.0% |
| #3 | Universidad de Las Américas | Ecuador | 64.3 | 4,945 | 30,074 | 70.2% |
| #4 | Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral | Ecuador | 63.3 | 4,149 | 27,933 | 1.0% |
| #5 | National Polytechnic School | Ecuador | 62.1 | 4,089 | 22,491 | 57.0% |
| #6 | Universidad UTE | Ecuador | 61.4 | 1,871 | 14,582 | 75.6% |
| #7 | Universidad del Azuay | Ecuador | 60.5 | 2,261 | 18,590 | -7.0% |
| #8 | Universidad Yachay Tech | Ecuador | 59.8 | 1,238 | 10,883 | 8.9% |
| #9 | Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador | Ecuador | 58.8 | 7,914 | 22,998 | 35.9% |
| #10 | University of Cuenca | Ecuador | 58.3 | 5,421 | 20,222 | 5.1% |
| #11 | Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE | Ecuador | 56.6 | 4,001 | 15,532 | 14.4% |
| #12 | Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAM | Ecuador | 56.3 | 847 | 6,372 | 4.7% |
| #13 | Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja | Ecuador | 56.3 | 4,276 | 14,308 | 39.3% |
| #14 | Central University of Ecuador | Ecuador | 55.4 | 7,436 | 13,543 | 73.0% |
| #15 | Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil | Ecuador | 55.1 | 2,251 | 8,413 | 55.4% |
| #16 | University of Guayaquil | Ecuador | 54.7 | 9,536 | 14,074 | 72.6% |
| #17 | Politecnica Salesiana University | Ecuador | 54.4 | 3,519 | 10,561 | 73.5% |
| #18 | Universidad Ecotec | Ecuador | 54.3 | 1,205 | 6,429 | 107.9% |
| #19 | Universidad Técnica de Manabí | Ecuador | 53.8 | 6,843 | 17,522 | 21.4% |
| #20 | Universidad Internacional del Ecuador | Ecuador | 53.4 | 1,896 | 6,567 | 95.3% |
| #21 | Universidad Nacional de Loja | Ecuador | 53.2 | 2,441 | 9,282 | 19.5% |
| #22 | Universidad Indoamérica | Ecuador | 52.2 | 3,149 | 8,245 | 77.1% |
| #23 | Universidad Técnica de Ambato | Ecuador | 51.5 | 5,627 | 10,132 | 41.2% |
| #24 | Escuela Superior Politécnica del Chimborazo | Ecuador | 51.3 | 5,216 | 9,176 | 1.4% |
| #25 | Universidad Estatal Amazónica | Ecuador | 50.9 | 1,391 | 4,528 | 85.8% |
| #26 | Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María | Ecuador | 50.4 | 860 | 1,867 | 261.6% |
| #27 | Universidad Técnica del Norte | Ecuador | 50.3 | 1,560 | 4,478 | 96.1% |
| #28 | Universidad Católica de Cuenca | Ecuador | 50.3 | 7,762 | 11,587 | 16.8% |
| #29 | Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo | Ecuador | 50.0 | 2,947 | 6,428 | 63.1% |
| #30 | Universidad Tecnica de Machala | Ecuador | 48.6 | 3,866 | 4,819 | 105.6% |
| #31 | Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo | Ecuador | 48.5 | 2,491 | 5,223 | 26.3% |
| #32 | Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí | Ecuador | 47.8 | 3,186 | 4,306 | 96.3% |
| #33 | Instituto Superior Tecnológico Loja | Ecuador | 47.8 | 1,914 | 3,021 | 176.2% |
| #34 | Universidad Internacional SEK | Ecuador | 47.7 | 660 | 2,379 | 42.0% |
| #35 | Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena | Ecuador | 47.2 | 1,409 | 3,582 | 76.6% |
| #36 | Instituto Geofísico de la Escuela Politécnica Nacional | Ecuador | 46.8 | 228 | 1,728 | -38.3% |
| #37 | Universidad Técnica "Luis Vargas Torres" | Ecuador | 46.6 | 1,263 | 3,330 | 54.8% |
| #38 | Universidad Estatal de Milagro | Ecuador | 46.5 | 1,967 | 5,460 | -47.8% |
| #39 | Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi | Ecuador | 45.8 | 1,673 | 3,002 | 118.8% |
| #40 | Universidad Agraria del Ecuador | Ecuador | 45.4 | 818 | 1,898 | 107.6% |
| #41 | Universidad Estatal de Bolívar | Ecuador | 45.3 | 1,031 | 2,088 | 25.3% |
| #42 | Universidad Politécnica Estatal del Carchi | Ecuador | 45.3 | 615 | 1,286 | 239.3% |
| #43 | Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabi | Ecuador | 44.0 | 2,062 | 2,846 | 47.8% |
| #44 | Escuela Superior Politécnica Agropecuaria de Manabí Manuel Félix López | Ecuador | 43.3 | 914 | 1,161 | 212.6% |
| #45 | Universidad San Gregorio de Portoviejo | Ecuador | 43.2 | 1,445 | 1,607 | 179.9% |
| #46 | Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo | Ecuador | 43.0 | 2,319 | 1,112 | 151.0% |
| #47 | Universidad Regional Autónoma de Los Andes | Ecuador | 42.1 | 5,053 | 2,900 | 7.6% |
| #48 | Universidad Del Pacífico Ecuador | Ecuador | 41.9 | 145 | 925 | 319.1% |
| #49 | Universidad Iberoamericana del Ecuador | Ecuador | 40.8 | 441 | 744 | 481.0% |
| #50 | Universidad de los Hemisferios | Ecuador | 40.3 | 475 | 766 | 108.3% |
| #51 | Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales | Ecuador | 40.2 | 530 | 694 | 51.3% |
| #52 | Escuela Politécnica Javeriana del Ecuador | Ecuador | 38.7 | 144 | 414 | 140.0% |
| #53 | Universidad Metropolitana | Ecuador | 38.2 | 729 | 743 | 37.6% |
| #54 | Universidad Tecnológica Empresarial de Guayaquil | Ecuador | 36.8 | 369 | 600 | 121.6% |
| #55 | Universidad Israel | Ecuador | 36.7 | 260 | 486 | 178.6% |
| #56 | Instituto Superior Tecnológico Tsa´chila | Ecuador | 35.9 | 156 | 260 | 700.0% |
| #57 | Universidad Casa Grande | Ecuador | 35.5 | 186 | 402 | 100.0% |
| #58 | Universidad de Otavalo | Ecuador | 35.2 | 274 | 436 | 24.5% |
| #59 | Universidad Laica Vicente Rocafuerte de Guayaquil | Ecuador | 34.6 | 446 | 439 | 12.2% |
| #60 | Universidad de las Artes | Ecuador | 33.7 | 505 | 199 | 22.9% |
| #61 | Instituto Superior Tecnológico de Artes del Ecuador | Ecuador | 33.2 | 198 | 166 | 348.3% |
| #62 | Universidad Intercultural de las Nacionalidades y Pueblos Indígenas Amawtay Wasi | Ecuador | 33.1 | 161 | 178 | 2,033.3% |
| #63 | Instituto Superior Tecnológico Japón | Ecuador | 30.6 | 124 | 296 | 64.0% |
Transparent methodology
How ITS Research Score v3 is constructed
One formula applies to every index-ready institution, using the five most recent complete calendar years: 25% research output, 25% citations, 20% h-index and 5% i10-index (log-normalized so the largest universities do not dominate linearly), 15% citation impact (the institution’s percentile on citations per work, reduced below 500 works so small samples cannot win by chance), 5% publication growth and 5% international-collaboration share. When collaboration data is not yet available, the other weights are rescaled.
Data-quality controls: the unfinished current year is never counted, and a year in which recorded output jumps to more than three times the institution’s usual level while being at least 90% open access is treated as a bulk dataset or repository deposit and scored at the usual level. Raw data are kept and every adjustment is logged. Open-access share and topic diversity are published as separate rankings and do not affect the main score. Citation impact is not field-normalized.
These indicators assess research activity only. They do not measure teaching quality, student experience, employability, reputation, finances or accreditation. Missing data are left missing rather than fabricated.