Tajikistan ranks below Afghanistan in the global SCImago scientific research index, Chairman of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) Saifiddin Davlatzoda told reporters in Dushanbe on January 28.
According to him, Tajikistan also trails Afghanistan in the Asian regional ranking. Data published on the official SCImago website show that Afghanistan ranks 26th among Asian countries, while Tajikistan is placed 27th. In the global ranking, Afghanistan holds 137th place, compared to Tajikistan’s 147th.
“Among Asian countries, we rank below Afghanistan. I have repeatedly raised this issue within the country’s academic community. As a scientist, I feel ashamed that despite the significant attention paid by the state and the government to science, we remain behind a country that has been living in a state of war for half a century. I personally feel responsible for the fact that we have failed to surpass even countries affected by armed conflict,” Davlatzoda said.
He noted that the main reason for Tajikistan’s low ranking is the limited publication of research articles by Tajik scholars in reputable international journals, as well as insufficient efforts to include domestic academic journals in global citation databases.
Davlatzoda added that the Higher Attestation Commission is planning to organize an Asian- or global-level scientific conference, along with training seminars aimed at encouraging Tajik researchers to publish in leading peer-reviewed international journals and ensuring that national academic journals are indexed in major global databases.
He expressed confidence that these initiatives would help improve Tajikistan’s position in the SCImago ranking.
Regional and global standings
While Tajikistan ranks above some small and island states, it remains near the bottom among Central Asian countries:
· Kazakhstan — 69th place (64,913 documents)
· Uzbekistan — 83rd place (38,873)
· Kyrgyzstan — 130th place (7,118)
· Tajikistan — 147th place (3,710)
· Turkmenistan — 191st place (636)
The global top three are the United States (1st), China (2nd), and the United Kingdom (3rd). Russia ranks 12th, while Iran holds 19th place.
At the bottom of the ranking are the French Southern Territories (241st), Pitcairn (242nd), and the Heard and McDonald Islands (243rd).
The SCImago global ranking covers data from 1996 to 2024 and is updated every two years based on Scopus data. The next update of the research ranking is expected in 2026.
