CWTS Leiden Ranking 2022: more top scores for Konstanz
First places nationwide in multiple categories of current ranking for the University of Konstanz with its consistently high proportion of open access publications and publications with international partners
The University of Konstanz has again scored top placements in the categories "open access" and "collaboration" in the renowned CWTS Leiden Ranking. Among the 54 German universities compared, Konstanz is first in its proportion of open access publications as well as its proportion of joint publications with international partners. The results reflect the University of Konstanz's long-standing commitment to promoting transparent and open science – one of its guiding principles – as well as the university's strength in international research and its researchers' exceptional networks.
A pioneer in open science
Since this category was introduced, the University of Konstanz has continuously held the top position in Germany for the proportion of open access publications – for all of the twelve evaluated periods. According to the ranking, more than 75 percent of publications from the period 2017 to 2020 involving researchers from the University of Konstanz are available online for free. This places the university 106th among 1,318 universities worldwide, an excellent position among the top ten percent of universities with the highest proportion of open access publications.
The Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) at the University of Konstanz has contributed decisively to this pioneering position. Since 2008, KIM has operated the university's own KOPS document server for archiving and sharing a multitude of Konstanz publications so they are freely accessible – to colleagues in the relevant fields and to the general public alike. This is also evaluated in a subcategory of the ranking: the proportion of "green" open access publications, i.e. subject-specific articles that are freely available to the public via self-archiving. In this subcategory, too, the University of Konstanz has taken first place nationwide in each of the twelve periods evaluated so far and currently ranks 90th worldwide.
Through a variety of measures, the University of Konstanz will continue to support and foster the transformation of publishing towards open access. In November 2021, already, Konstanz was one of the first universities in Germany to adopt an Open Science Policy that established the topic of open access even more strongly as a strategic goal of the university and in the overall context of open science.
First-rate international networks
This is also the third time in a row that the University of Konstanz has ranked first in the category "Collaboration" for its high proportion of joint publications with international partners. Currently more than 66 percent of publications were co-authored with international colleagues. In the international comparison, this led to another excellent position among the top eleven percent of universities (rank 137). The results reflect the broad, global networks of Konstanz researchers as well as the success and visibility of their top-level international research.
About the CWTS Leiden Ranking
The CWTS Leiden Ranking 2022 compares the scientific performance of 1,318 universities from 69 countries based on their publications in the period from 2017 to 2020. In order to take part in the ranking, a university's researchers must have published at least 800 English-language articles (subject-specific or review articles) in journals listed in the "Web of Science". Universities cannot apply to be included in the ranking, as is otherwise the case for various other international rankings.
Key facts:
- CWTS Leiden Ranking again awards top placements in Germany to the University of Konstanz in the categories "open access" and "collaboration"
- Current ranking of 1,318 universities from 69 countries
- Current evaluation period: 2017 to 2020
- Annual ranking by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University in the Netherlands