This paper examines how national and international research collaboration links with universities’ performance and their global rankings in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
The empirical analysis is based on the bibliometric data from SciVal (2019-2024). This allowed us to apply Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression modelling to define predictors of research performance indicators and ranking among 114 universities in GCC countries.
We found that international and national collaborations are strong predictors of citation impact, research visibility, and publication quality for ranked universities, while non-ranked universities experience much smaller impact.
The paper provides the first comparative statistical analysis linking collaboration patterns with global rankings in the GCC countries and empirical evidence, demonstrating the impact of national/international collaboration on institutional visibility, and highlighting the limitations of existing ranking systems in the region.
This paper will guide university administrators and leadership in establishing national/international collaboration priorities to climb global rankings.
Karabchuk, T., Shomotova, A. and Mohamad, M. (2026): National and International Research Collaboration across GCC Universities: Impact on Institutional Research Performance and Global Ranking. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (WJEMSD), Vol. 22, No. 6, pp. 545-567.
