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Research Collaboration Index
A worked example using real, public data for Northern Illinois University (United States), ranked in the global index.  See a world-leading example (Oxford) →

The enhanced fact file

Your entire collaboration network, read like a strategist would.

Not a scorecard. A dossier that tells a university leader exactly where the strengths, the risks and the fundable opportunities are, every figure sourced from the open research record.

◇ Ranked in the Research Collaboration Index
🌍 North America · 251 universities benchmarked
5,190
co-authored works, 5 years
760
partner universities
65
partner countries
360
sustained deep ties
2.77
collaboration impact (FWCI)
81%
of partners non-redundant

The one-screen strategic read

Where you stand, at a glance.

The first thing a leader needs is not more data, it is a verdict. Three strengths to lead with, three challenges to manage, three opportunities to act on, each drawn straight from the network below.

Strengths
  • Physics & Astronomy is the standout field. Ranked #383 in the world for connected research, with Energy #551, Earth & Planetary Sciences #671 close behind: the anchors to build consortia around.
  • Strong on impact and international. Northern Illinois University sits in the 63rd percentile for impact and the 54th for international: genuine, defensible strengths.
  • A genuine bridge, not just a hub. 126 of 155 partners (81%) are non-redundant, so it connects communities that would not otherwise meet.
Challenges
  • Influence is the softest pillar. At the 12th percentile it sits clearly below the others: the single clearest place to build.
  • Life Sciences is the at-risk domain. World #1,181 for connected research, far behind the rest of the portfolio: a real gap, not a crown jewel.
  • Network concentration. The top two partner countries (United States and France) carry about 73% of collaboration volume: depth, but a thin long tail.
Opportunities
  • Win NUS. World top-2. National University of Singapore is top-115 globally in Social Sciences. Route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant.
  • Win Monash University. World top-7. Monash University is top-52 globally in Social Sciences. Route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant.
  • Convert your highest-yield tie. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign returns the highest impact of your partners (FWCI 7.9). Formalise it into a funded consortium to compound impact, not just volume.

Scholarly weight

The impact behind the network

Collaboration only counts if the work lands. This is the citation weight of everything produced with partners, the substance under the network.

411
h-index of the joint research base
2.7M
citations to co-authored work
2.77
field-weighted citation impact (FWCI)
5,190
co-authored works, 2021-2025
40
collaboration efficiency, impact per tie

Visualisation 1

Your collaboration profile

Seven pillars, each shown as a global percentile. The dashed ring marks the top-decile benchmark; anything inside it is a genuine, defensible strength.

Influence12th pctReach21st pctDiversity18th pctSustained20th pctImpact63rd pctInternational54th pctBrokerage2nd pct

Northern Illinois University is strongest on impact (63rd percentile), international (54th) and reach (21st). Its brokerage diagnostic shows 126 of 155 partners (81%) are non-redundant, a genuine bridge between communities rather than a wide publisher.

The pillar to watch is Influence (12th percentile), the softest of the six and the clearest place to build.

Source: the open global research record, co-authored works 2021–2025, fractional counting

The anatomy of your standing

Exactly what your position is built from

Six pillars, each weighted, combine into one standing index. Nothing is hidden: this is the entire calculation, in a single bar.

InflImpaSustReacDiveInteEach block is a pillar’s weighted contribution; together they place the university in the global ranked cohort.
Influence22% weight12th pct+2.6
Impact18% weight63rd pct+11.3
Sustained18% weight20th pct+3.6
Reach16% weight21st pct+3.4
Diversity16% weight18th pct+2.9
International10% weight54th pct+5.4

Brokerage is reported alongside as a diagnostic, not folded into the score, so a university cannot inflate its standing simply by publishing widely. It measures whether you connect communities that would otherwise stay apart.

Visualisation 2

Where you lead the world, by field

Each subject placed on a log scale of world rank (1 to 1,195). The further left, the more globally central. Gold marks a top-50 standout, blue a solid position.

#1#10#100#1000Physics & Astronomy383Energy551Earth & Planetary Scie…671Business, Management &…679Mathematics719Psychology735
Standout (top 50)Solid (top 150)Ranked

Northern Illinois University's strongest connected fields are Physics & Astronomy #383, Energy #551, Earth & Planetary Sciences #671. The portfolio leans on social sciences; Life Sciences, at world #1,181 in the deep-dive below, is the clear at-risk area, exactly the gap this chart surfaces.

Source: subject-level indices, 26 fields, minimum 50-university gate

Discipline deep-dive

How you collaborate, faculty by faculty

The same network split into its four broad domains, each with its world rank for connected research and the five partners it leans on most. This is the view a dean or pro-vice-chancellor acts on.

Health & Medicine
World #1122 for connected research
6/100
Top collaboration partners
🇺🇸 University of Illinoi…33
🇺🇸 University of Illinoi…32
🇺🇸 University of Wiscons…11
🇺🇸 Emory University11
🇺🇸 Loyola University Chi…11
Life Sciences
World #1181 for connected research
1/100
Top collaboration partners
🇺🇸 University of Michigan19
🇺🇸 Harvard University18
🇺🇸 University of Washing…14
🇺🇸 University of Chicago14
🇺🇸 University of South F…13
Physical Sciences & Engineering
World #1105 for connected research
8/100
Top collaboration partners
🇺🇸 University of Chicago738
🇺🇸 University of Oklahoma442
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv University432
🇫🇷 Université Paris-Sacl…429
🇫🇷 Université Savoie Mon…427
Social Sciences
World #810 for connected research
32/100
Top collaboration partners
🇺🇸 University of Illinoi…42
🇺🇸 University of Florida41
🇺🇸 University of Illinoi…39
🇩🇪 University of Bonn38
🇺🇸 University of Califor…36
Source: domain-level co-authorship, partner institutions 2021–2025

Visualisation 3

Which partnerships actually pay off

Every anchor partner plotted by collaboration volume against the citation impact of the joint work. The prize quadrant is top-right: high volume and high impact. The bottom-right is the trap: a lot of output, little impact.

Joint works (collaboration volume) →Impact (FWCI) →high yieldUniversity of ChicUniversity of IlliUniversity of IlliUniversity of Okla
High yieldStandardLow yield

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign returns the highest impact of the set (FWCI 7.9): a consortium waiting to happen. University of Oklahoma, by contrast, is a sizeable partner returning FWCI 2.1: worth asking what that volume is buying.

PartnerJoint worksFWCIYield
🇺🇸 University of Chicago355 3.4Standard
🇺🇸 University of Illinois Chicago108 2.7Standard
🇺🇸 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign107 7.9High yield
🇺🇸 University of Oklahoma102 2.1Low yield
🇩🇪 University of Göttingen88 2.6Standard
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv University83 2.2Low yield
🇫🇷 Aix-Marseille Université81 2.2Low yield
🇫🇷 Université Savoie Mont Blanc78 2.2Low yield
🇮🇱 Technion – Israel Institute of Technology75 2.3Standard
🇵🇱 AGH University of Krakow72 2.4Standard
Source: institution-to-institution co-authorship ledger + field-weighted citation impact

Visualisation 4

Your global reach, and where it thins out

Top partner countries

🇺🇸 United States 3,953
🇫🇷 France 493
🇬🇧 United Kingdom 389
🇩🇪 Germany 327
🇨🇳 China 315
🇨🇦 Canada 245
🇦🇺 Australia 176
🇮🇱 Israel 170

Anchor partner institutions

🇺🇸 University of Chicago 355
🇺🇸 University of Illinois Chicago 108
🇺🇸 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 107
🇺🇸 University of Oklahoma 102
🇩🇪 University of Göttingen 88
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv University 83
🇫🇷 Aix-Marseille Université 81
🇫🇷 Université Savoie Mont Blanc 78

The network spans 65 countries and 760 universities, but the top two carry about 73% of the volume. That concentration is where the resilience question lives, and the Middle East white-space (0 of the region's 2 leading collaborators) is the clearest gap to close.

Source: co-authorship by partner-institution country, 2021–2025

Visualisation 6

The partners to win next

Not a generic wish-list. Globally central universities you are not yet deeply partnered with, each with the reason it matters and the specific programme that would fund the collaboration.

🇸🇬 National University of Singapore Singapore · world top-2

National University of Singapore is top-115 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in your strongest field.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

🇦🇺 Monash University Australia · world top-7

Monash University is top-52 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in your strongest field.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

🇬🇧 King's College London United Kingdom · world top-10

King's College London is top-48 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in your strongest field.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

🇦🇺 The University of Queensland Australia · world top-12

The University of Queensland is top-99 globally in Social Sciences. You have no joint publications yet, and it is a natural, fundable bridge in your strongest field.

Funding route: NSF / NIH international collaboration supplements, or a Human Frontier Science Program grant

Source: network white-space analysis + funder-programme mapping

The research base

The ecosystem behind the collaboration

A partnership does not plug into a name, it plugs into a base: the affiliated hospitals, presses, institutes and archives, and the research themes where the joint work concentrates.

NIU Observatory
Physics and AstronomyPsychologyEarth and Planetary Sciences

Context

Your competitive set, and your signature research

Benchmarked against

The named peer group your fact file compares you to, pillar by pillar and subject by subject.

🇺🇸 Loma Linda UniversityUnited States
🇮🇳 Lovely Professional UniversityIndia
🇵🇱 University of GdańskPoland
🇨🇳 Nanjing University of Chinese MedicineChina
🇺🇸 East Carolina UniversityUnited States
Particle physics theoretical and experimental studiesHigh-Energy Particle Collisions ResearchQuantum Chromodynamics and Particle InteractionsParticle Detector Development and PerformanceChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentGeology and Paleoclimatology Research

From insight to action

A 90-day plan, written from the data.

The dossier ends where a strategy meeting begins: three moves, sequenced, each pointing back to a specific finding above.

0-30 days
Name the target

Adopt NUS and a Middle East hub as formal partnership targets; brief the relevant deans with the joint white-space evidence.

30-60 days
Open the funding route

Scope the specific programme for each target, and turn the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tie into a consortium concept in Social Sciences.

60-90 days
Interrogate the soft spots

Address the influence gap and the life sciences weakness; set a diversification target for the long tail; and secure an editorial feature in the reputation-survey window.

Your fact file

Claim the full fact file for Northern Illinois University.

Everything above is the open view. The full partner fact file goes further: every ranked subject and subfield, the complete partner ledger with yield, your named academics and their signature work, the funder-by-funder route map for each target, and this same dossier on up to ten named peers.

Partner fact file · locked

Unlocked for partners. Confirm before 12:00, Tuesday 25 August 2026 to be included at the 15 September launch.

See the full enhanced fact file → Claim & verify yours

Free to claim and verify your data. No obligation. Your ranking is unaffected by partnership, and always will be.

Exclusive to partners

Plus this same dossier on up to 10 of your peers.

Every partnership includes the full intelligence on your named competitive set, their strengths, their funders, their white-space, so you can see exactly where you lead and where to close the gap. Two peers with Recognition, five with Partnership, up to ten with Flagship.

Your research, in front of 170,000 academics, with full reporting.

Partnership also places your research as editorial features in the Research Network Report, our newsletter to a verified global academic audience, timed to the reputation-survey season. Every send comes with a full performance report: opens, clicks and geography, benchmarked against the edition.

The Research Network Report

170,000
verified academic subscribers worldwide
Nov–Jan
timed to the reputation-survey season
Full report
opens, clicks and geography on every feature

See your own dossier, built for your university.

Submit your data and we will build and review your enhanced fact file with you, then show exactly how a partnership turns it into advantage, before the index goes public on 15 September 2026.

Request a partnership conversation →
Global Research Partnerships · globalresearchpartnerships.com/rci · Built on the open global research record and the award data of the world's major funders. Methodology.