The first global map of research collaboration: 1,195 universities ranked by who builds knowledge together

UNITED KINGDOM, September 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- First-ever Research Collaboration Index ranks 1,195 universities in 81 countries by who actually builds knowledge together, crowns the University of Hong Kong, and names 26 Subject Award winners: the academics behind the world's most powerful research partnerships.

The Research Collaboration Index (RCI), the first global ranking of how universities actually collaborate, went live today at globalresearchpartnerships.com/rci. Computed entirely from the open scholarly record, with no surveys, no submissions and nothing to game, the index measures the structure of global research collaboration itself: 1,195 universities, 81 countries, 26 subject rankings, every figure checkable at source.

Its first result overturns the familiar league-table order. The most connected research university on Earth is the University of Hong Kong, followed by the National University of Singapore, the University of Oxford, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and University College London. Several of the world's most famous names rank lower on collaboration than they do on reputation: the index measures what a university does, not what others say about it.

Key findings
• #1 in the world: the University of Hong Kong (score 97.8), collaborating with 1,172 institutions worldwide.
• The top five: Hong Kong, National University of Singapore, Oxford, Chinese University of Hong Kong, UCL: a map of connection, not prestige.
• Collaboration is now the operating system of science: leading universities co-author with partners in more than 75 countries.
• Subject leaders reward focus, not size: Wageningen leads Agricultural Sciences, Oxford leads Medicine, and Hong Kong leads Economics.
• 26 Subject Awards honour individual academics, not institutions: the people whose cited, verifiable work holds the world's research partnerships together.

“Reputation is what others say. Collaboration is what a university does. From today, it is measured,” said Daniel Llewellin, founder of Global Research Partnerships, which publishes the index. “We built the RCI from the open scholarly record precisely so that anyone can check any number. It is free, it is public, and no commercial relationship changes any position. And because collaboration is done by people, not buildings, our Subject Awards go to the academics themselves: the twenty-six researchers whose work shows the world what great collaboration looks like.”
The winners, in their own words

Lidwine B. Mokkink, University of Amsterdam: winner, Decision Sciences Subject Award 2026
“Together, we succeed in gaining a better understanding of measurements. We learn with and from each other in the free online COSMIN Clubs.”

Award citation: “COSMIN guideline for systematic reviews of patient-reported outcome measures version 2.0” (Quality of Life Research 2024), cited 377 times.

Stavros Petrou, University of Oxford: winner, Economics, Econometrics & Finance Subject Award 2026
“This research provides internationally agreed guidance for transparent and consistent reporting of health economic evaluations so that evidence on costs and outcomes can be trusted, compared and used.”

Award citation: “Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards 2022 (CHEERS 2022) Statement: Updated Reporting Guidance for Health Economic Evaluations” (Value in Health 2022), cited 1,085 times.

How the index is built
The RCI is computed from the open scholarly record (2021-2025): a ledger of more than 26 million co-authored works, fractionally counted so no output is double-credited. Six pillars are scored: network influence, partner reach, partner-country diversity, citation impact of joint output, sustained deep partnerships, and international intensity.

Subject indices re-run the same pillars within each of 26 fields. The methodology is published in full at globalresearchpartnerships.com/rci/methodology. The index is free, public and independent; partnership with the publisher never changes a position.

Global Research Partnerships is an independent research-intelligence company. The full results, all 26 subject rankings and every award citation are public at globalresearchpartnerships.com/rci/results.

Daniel Llewellin
Global Research Partnerships
daniel@globalresearchpartnerships.com
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