University of Cape Town

Research performance overview

University of Cape Town is an education institution in South Africa represented in the ITS Research Intelligence database through OpenAlex and ROR-linked identity data. Over the most recent five-year window available locally, the institution is associated with 253,330 research works and 246,072 citations. Its current h-index is 707, while the five-year trend shows a contraction in recent publication activity. It currently places #87 in the ITS global research-performance ranking. Within South Africa, its current research-performance position is #1.

Five-year research output and impact

Recent citation volume is approximately 1.0 citations per five-year work when the two aggregate windows are divided. This is a descriptive ratio rather than a field-normalized citation indicator, because disciplines have very different citation practices. The h-index and i10-index add longer-run visibility context, while the growth metrics show direction of travel rather than historical accumulation alone.

Research trend by year

The yearly series runs from 2010 to 2026 in the current local snapshot. Annual research counts should be read as a pattern rather than as an audited financial-style total: scholarly metadata is continually corrected, affiliations can be re-resolved, and citations continue to accumulate after publication.

Research strengths and leading topics

The strongest topic signals currently associated with University of Cape Town include Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping, Geological Modeling and Analysis and Electrical and Electromagnetic Research. Topic lists are useful for understanding where an institution is visibly active, but they are not equivalent to a complete departmental census because OpenAlex topics are inferred from the institution’s works rather than from its administrative structure.

National benchmark

Among the 16 index-ready universities currently available for South Africa, the average five-year output is about 1,607 works and the average five-year citation count is about 7,742. University of Cape Town is currently above that research-output average and above the citation average. Its own growth signal is -18.7%, compared with a country-set average of 64.4%.

How to interpret this university profile

ITS Research Solution treats this page as research intelligence rather than a prestige label. The score is designed to summarize measurable research activity using recent output, recent citations, h-index, i10-index and five-year publication growth. Size still matters, so the score should be interpreted together with the trend table and topic profile. A smaller institution with strong momentum can therefore look different from a large institution with a much longer publication history.

Rankings are recalculated from the local analytical database after OpenAlex synchronization. The public page is indexable only when the institution has enough recent research activity, at least five active years in the available trend window, and multiple topic signals. This quality gate prevents empty or minimally populated institution records from becoming search-engine pages.

Data sources and verification

The institution identity is linked to the Research Organization Registry (ROR) through the ROR identifier supplied by OpenAlex. Research counts, citation totals, yearly activity, h-index, i10-index and topic signals come from OpenAlex. OpenAlex institution records are themselves grounded in ROR for canonical institution identity. Data can change as scholarly records, affiliations and citation links are corrected, so the page records the latest local synchronization time rather than presenting the figures as permanent.

• OpenAlex institution ID: I157614274
• ROR ID: 03p74gp79
• Last synchronized: 2026-09-09 09:21:38

Frequently asked questions