The Scimago Journal & Country Rank portal has published its Hirsch index (H-index) data for 2024. The H-index is used to assess the scientific productivity and impact of individual researchers, research groups, and countries. The higher the H-index, the more frequently their academic work is cited, indicating a greater contribution to science.
In the ranking, the country placed 98th out of 243 worldwide. Its H-index stood at 183 — the higher the score, the greater the scientific output. According to the report, researchers from the republic published 64.9 thousand scientific documents. Of those, 62.4 thousand were cited. The total number of citations reached 505.5 thousand, including 104.7 thousand self-citations. The average citation rate was 7.76.
Among CIS countries, Kazakhstan ranks fifth, following Russia, Ukraine*, Armenia, and Belarus. Below Kazakhstan are Azerbaijan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
* Ukraine holds a disputed status within the CIS for a number of reasons.
According to experts, external citations accounted for 79.29% of all references, while self-citations made up 20.71%. Of all published documents, 58.86% provided open access to research findings. At the same time, Kazakhstan’s share of global scientific publications stood at just 0.21%. A total of 48.24% of papers were co-authored with international researchers.
Most of the articles were published in fields such as agricultural and biological sciences, computer science, engineering, materials science, physics and astronomy, and social sciences.
Experts also provided data on Kazakhstani scientific journals. A total of 14 journals were included in the ranking. Topping the list was the Eurasian Chemico-Technological Journal. Full details are available in the table.
As for capital investments in Kazakh science, in January–April of the current year, investments in fixed assets in the field of professional, scientific and technical activities amounted to 17.8 billion tenge — a 17.4% decrease in monetary terms compared to the same period last year. The physical volume index stood at 80.4%, indicating an actual contraction in the sector of 19.6%.
In the sector's investment portfolio, 416.8 million tenge came from bank loans, 1.4 billion tenge from borrowings from non-bank organizations, and 179.1 million tenge from other sources. The majority — 15.8 billion tenge — came from the republican budget and companies' own funds. However, these figures are classified, and no further breakdown is officially provided.
In regional terms, the highest investment volume in the sector was recorded in Almaty — 3.3 billion tenge, up 7% year-on-year. It was followed by the Karaganda and Mangystau Regions, with 3.2 billion and 2.7 billion tenge, respectively. The lowest volumes of science-sector investment were observed in Shymkent (22.5 million tenge), Almaty Region (24.1 million tenge), and North Kazakhstan Region (27.2 million tenge).
