Global Inequality in Research: A Quantitative Analysis of 1628 Institutions in THE World University Rankings 2025

The Research Quality metric in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE WUR) plays a central role in evaluating global academic performance. However, concerns remain about its fairness and inclusivity. In THE WUR, “Research Quality” is a 30% composite metric based entirely on four citation-derived indicators—Citation Impact, Research Strength, Research Excellence, and Research Influence. This study investigates 1,628 institutions from 97 countries included in THE WUR 2025, categorized into six global regions: Anglophone, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study examines how institutional and regional factors influence citation-based research performance, highlighting disparities across six world regions. Using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple regression models with regional indicators and interaction effects, and residual analysis, we analyze how these institutional and regional factors shape differences in citation-based performance. The results reveal that Anglophone and European universities significantly outperform others in Research Quality, even after adjusting for Research Environment, Teaching (as defined in the THE WUR Teaching metric), and International Outlook. Notably, international collaboration shows a strong positive association with citation impact, particularly for Latin American institutions. In contrast, a negative correlation between Teaching and Research Quality highlights potential trade-offs in institutional strategy. The analysis also highlights persistent structural disadvantages for non-Western regions stemming from linguistic barriers, limited publishing access, and underrepresentation in global citation networks. These results underscore the need for more inclusive and regionally sensitive evaluation frameworks. Policy implications include enhancing international research networks, supporting open access publishing, and expanding recognition of locally relevant scholarship to reduce structural inequities in global rankings.