Saudi Arabia University Research Rankings
Compare Saudi Arabia universities using recent research output, citation impact, growth and a transparent research-performance score.
Research landscape
The current ITS Research Intelligence dataset contains 53 index-ready universities in Saudi Arabia. Across those institutions, the average five-year research output is approximately 9,976 works and the average five-year citation count is approximately 128,153. The average publication-growth signal is 69.3%. 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 Saudi Arabia
| Rank | University | Country | Score | 5-year works | 5-year citations | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | King Saud University | Saudi Arabia | 85.6 | 75,841 | 991,298 | 65.7% |
| #2 | King Abdulaziz University | Saudi Arabia | 82.2 | 42,219 | 638,070 | -18.7% |
| #3 | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | Saudi Arabia | 81.8 | 22,459 | 380,855 | 21.8% |
| #4 | King Khalid University | Saudi Arabia | 81.0 | 35,966 | 508,956 | 46.7% |
| #5 | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | Saudi Arabia | 79.5 | 18,322 | 300,186 | 57.6% |
| #6 | Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University | Saudi Arabia | 78.8 | 26,288 | 322,337 | 83.5% |
| #7 | Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University | Saudi Arabia | 78.2 | 24,464 | 359,808 | 3.5% |
| #8 | Taif University | Saudi Arabia | 77.5 | 23,236 | 354,628 | -28.3% |
| #9 | King Faisal University | Saudi Arabia | 76.7 | 15,792 | 184,249 | 83.7% |
| #10 | Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University | Saudi Arabia | 76.1 | 12,286 | 123,067 | 199.9% |
| #11 | Umm al-Qura University | Saudi Arabia | 76.0 | 19,810 | 249,440 | 5.0% |
| #12 | Qassim University | Saudi Arabia | 75.4 | 19,159 | 194,795 | 47.0% |
| #13 | Jazan University | Saudi Arabia | 75.2 | 15,240 | 162,434 | 65.9% |
| #14 | University of Business and Technology | Saudi Arabia | 75.1 | 7,849 | 104,844 | 140.9% |
| #15 | Jouf University | Saudi Arabia | 74.8 | 11,507 | 166,486 | 6.0% |
| #16 | University of Tabuk | Saudi Arabia | 74.7 | 11,183 | 130,979 | 73.4% |
| #17 | University of Ha'il | Saudi Arabia | 74.6 | 11,090 | 130,310 | 54.9% |
| #18 | Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University | Saudi Arabia | 74.2 | 13,770 | 167,536 | -0.6% |
| #19 | Prince Sultan University | Saudi Arabia | 73.8 | 9,114 | 123,243 | 18.3% |
| #20 | Taibah University | Saudi Arabia | 73.8 | 11,917 | 130,175 | 33.4% |
| #21 | Northern Border University | Saudi Arabia | 73.3 | 7,851 | 75,783 | 279.6% |
| #22 | Najran University | Saudi Arabia | 73.2 | 7,236 | 99,265 | 47.5% |
| #23 | University of Jeddah | Saudi Arabia | 72.7 | 10,945 | 114,494 | 43.6% |
| #24 | Alfaisal University | Saudi Arabia | 72.5 | 7,871 | 86,734 | 46.4% |
| #25 | Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University | Saudi Arabia | 71.4 | 4,076 | 54,796 | 91.4% |
| #26 | Islamic University of Madinah | Saudi Arabia | 71.3 | 4,656 | 46,014 | 236.8% |
| #27 | King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences | Saudi Arabia | 71.0 | 10,768 | 92,599 | 23.9% |
| #28 | Majmaah University | Saudi Arabia | 70.8 | 7,037 | 84,046 | 3.4% |
| #29 | Shaqra University | Saudi Arabia | 70.7 | 6,125 | 66,238 | 74.9% |
| #30 | University of Bisha | Saudi Arabia | 69.8 | 4,595 | 48,425 | 121.8% |
| #31 | Al Baha University | Saudi Arabia | 69.1 | 5,864 | 57,476 | 80.8% |
| #32 | Saudi Electronic University | Saudi Arabia | 68.1 | 3,898 | 46,543 | 47.9% |
| #33 | University of Hafr Al-Batin | Saudi Arabia | 68.1 | 3,153 | 41,058 | 49.4% |
| #34 | Buraydah Colleges | Saudi Arabia | 67.2 | 3,100 | 30,108 | 133.1% |
| #35 | Effat University | Saudi Arabia | 63.1 | 1,376 | 14,184 | 61.8% |
| #36 | Yanbu University College | Saudi Arabia | 62.9 | 1,204 | 14,464 | 32.0% |
| #37 | Riyadh Elm University | Saudi Arabia | 60.8 | 2,051 | 14,633 | 34.8% |
| #38 | Sulaiman Al Rajhi Colleges | Saudi Arabia | 60.1 | 1,287 | 9,781 | 79.9% |
| #39 | Jubail Industrial College | Saudi Arabia | 59.8 | 825 | 7,655 | 82.4% |
| #40 | Al Yamamah University | Saudi Arabia | 58.8 | 702 | 5,090 | 215.1% |
| #41 | Fahd bin Sultan University | Saudi Arabia | 58.6 | 416 | 8,967 | 113.2% |
| #42 | Dar Al Uloom University | Saudi Arabia | 57.7 | 1,154 | 7,878 | 78.2% |
| #43 | Arab Open University | Saudi Arabia | 57.1 | 631 | 4,594 | 272.4% |
| #44 | Dar Al-Hekma University | Saudi Arabia | 56.8 | 413 | 5,123 | 121.1% |
| #45 | Yanbu Industrial College | Saudi Arabia | 56.0 | 441 | 5,760 | 2.3% |
| #46 | Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences | Saudi Arabia | 55.0 | 479 | 3,744 | 116.8% |
| #47 | Naif Arab University for Security Sciences | Saudi Arabia | 54.4 | 501 | 4,689 | 16.5% |
| #48 | Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies | Saudi Arabia | 53.8 | 1,227 | 5,834 | 24.9% |
| #49 | Al-Farabi College | Saudi Arabia | 47.4 | 337 | 986 | 64.8% |
| #50 | Al-Ghad International Health Sciences Colleges | Saudi Arabia | 47.3 | 416 | 1,829 | 79.8% |
| #51 | King Fahd Security College | Saudi Arabia | 46.0 | 197 | 6,153 | 16.7% |
| #52 | Jubail University College | Saudi Arabia | 45.4 | 234 | 2,182 | -55.6% |
| #53 | Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship | Saudi Arabia | 43.8 | 176 | 1,310 | 78.2% |
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.