News Detail

This year's repeated excellent results in the renowned CWTS Leiden Ranking stem from the university's consistent commitment to transparent and freely available research (open science) as well as its researchers’ global connections and international research strength. With its high proportion of open access publications and joint publications with international partners, the University of Konstanz earned the top position nationwide in two categories: "open science" and "international collaboration". A total of 57 German universities were included in the current ranking.

University continues to lead nationwide in "open science"
More than 78 percent of Konstanz researchers' publications from the period 2018 to 2021 are currently freely available online. This is an increase of three percentage points over the already high level in the previous year, and the University of Konstanz continues to lead the field of German universities in the area of "open access", as it has done continually since the category was established in the CWTS Leiden Ranking. This places the university 116th among 1,411 universities worldwide, an excellent position among the top ten percent of universities with the highest proportion of open access publications.

The university's own Konstanz Online Publication System (KOPS) makes a decisive contribution to the high proportion of open access publications. Since 2008, the university's Communication, Information, Media Centre (KIM) has operated the KOPS repository, and provided Konstanz researchers corresponding services to use this secondary publication option. KOPS ensures these publications are permanently available for free to the general public. This, in turn, also increases the visibility of the university's researchers.

Promoting open science is a key objective for the University of Konstanz that goes beyond the open access publication of articles and books. In the winter of 2021, it was one of the first German universities to adopt an Open Science Policy, thus declaring open science one of its guiding principles. The University of Konstanz also plays a leading role in the two central information platforms open-access.network and forschungsdaten.info. The Open Science Spotlight section of Konstanz's campus.kn online magazine regularly highlights researchers' contributions to open science.

Global research collaboration
On average, two out of three Konstanz publications (67.7 percent) were written in collaboration with international colleagues in the period from 2018 to 2021. This has earned the university its top placement nationwide in the category "international collaboration" for the fourth straight time now. By international comparison, Konstanz placed 144th out of 1,411 universities – an excellent position among the global top 150. The results reflect the outstanding 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 2023 compares the research contributions of 1,411 universities from 72 countries based on their publications in the period from 2018 to 2021. 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 on the "Web of Science". Universities cannot apply to be included in the ranking.

Key facts:

• The University of Konstanz again holds top position nationwide in the CWTS Leiden Ranking for the categories "open access" and "international collaboration".
• Current ranking of 1,411 universities from 72 countries
• Current evaluation period: 2018 to 2021
• Annual ranking by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University in the Netherlands