UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta has once again achieved a notable milestone at both the national and international levels. According to the Transparent Ranking of Universities: OpenAlex Edition for July 2026, published by the Cybermetrics Lab (a research group under the Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos, CSIC–Spain), UIN Sunan Kalijaga ranks first among Indonesia's State Islamic Higher Education Institutions (PTKIN) in terms of highly cited publications.

In this July 2026 edition, UIN Sunan Kalijaga was recognized as Indonesia's top-performing PTKIN, ranking first among the 34 PTKINs included in the assessment. The university also placed 25th nationally out of 846 Indonesian higher education institutions and 2,022nd worldwide out of roughly 17,400 institutions evaluated. This achievement was underpinned by 12 scholarly articles ranking in the Top 1% of most-cited papers and 154 articles in the Top 10% of most-cited papers, reflecting the strong international impact of research produced by UIN Sunan Kalijaga's academic community.

Unlike university rankings that typically rely on multiple indicators, the OpenAlex Edition of the Transparent Ranking specifically measures the quality of research impact based on the number of articles that place among the world's Top 1% and Top 10% most-cited papers. The assessment draws on OpenAlex Database data for publications from 2021–2025, with data collected in the first week of July 2026, covering approximately 17,400 higher education institutions worldwide.

This achievement therefore reflects not only high publication productivity but also demonstrates that research produced by UIN Sunan Kalijaga's academic community carries broad influence and is recognized by the international scholarly community through its strong citation record.

The result further strengthens UIN Sunan Kalijaga's standing across international rankings. Earlier, in the July 2026 edition of the Webometrics Ranking of Universities, UIN Sunan Kalijaga was also recognized as Indonesia's top PTKIN, ranking 22nd nationally and 1,115th worldwide.

Although published by the same institution, the Cybermetrics Lab (CSIC–Spain), the two rankings employ different methodologies.

The Webometrics Ranking of Universities is a composite ranking that combines four main indicators: Visibility, Openness, Excellence, and Impact, offering a comprehensive picture of institutional performance within the digital and research ecosystem.

The Transparent Ranking of Universities: OpenAlex Edition, by contrast, focuses exclusively on citation performance, measuring the number of publications that place among the Top 1% and Top 10% most-cited papers based on the OpenAlex database.

Responding to the achievement, Rector of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta Prof. Noorhaidi Hasan stated that the result reflects the university's ongoing effort to build an academic culture that is both excellent and globally competitive.

“This achievement is something we should be grateful for, as the result of the collective work of our entire academic community. Being recognized as the top PTKIN in the Transparent Ranking shows that the scholarly work produced by UIN Sunan Kalijaga is making an increasingly real contribution to the advancement of knowledge at the international level. It is also motivation for us to keep improving the quality of our research, expand our global collaborative networks, and deliver innovations that benefit society.”

The Rector added that leading both the Transparent Ranking and the Webometrics ranking in the same period shows that UIN Sunan Kalijaga's transformation into a world-class research university is on the right track. He noted that publication quality, citation impact, open science, and international collaboration will remain priorities in support of the university's vision of becoming an excellent, inclusive, and globally competitive institution.

Meanwhile, the Chair of UIN Sunan Kalijaga's Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM), Dr. Abdul Qoyum, said the achievement is an indicator of the growing strength and impact of research produced by the university's academic community.

“Alhamdulillah, this achievement is proof that the research developed at UIN Sunan Kalijaga is not only productive in terms of publication output, but also carries strong academic impact, as reflected in the number of articles ranking among the world's most-cited publications. This is the result of a strengthened research ecosystem, increased national and international collaboration, and the commitment of our faculty and researchers to producing high-quality scholarly work,” said Dr. Abdul Qoyum.

He added that the achievement serves as motivation for LPPM to continue strengthening research mentorship, improving the quality of internationally reputable publications, and developing cross-disciplinary and cross-country collaboration so that UIN Sunan Kalijaga's scholarly contributions gain even wider global recognition.

UIN Sunan Kalijaga's consistency in leading PTKINs across both rankings shows that strengthening the university's research culture has yielded not only greater institutional visibility, but also scholarly work with strong academic impact at the global level.

This achievement indicates that the university's ongoing strategies, research development, international collaboration, improved publication quality, and a strengthened academic ecosystem, are beginning to produce tangible results. Amid increasingly competitive conditions among higher education institutions, this success reaffirms UIN Sunan Kalijaga's position as one of Indonesia's leading Islamic universities, capable of contributing to the advancement of knowledge and addressing global challenges through high-quality research.

The achievement is also a source of motivation for the entire academic community to keep improving the quality of research, expand international collaborative networks, and produce publications that are not only productive, but also deliver real impact for the advancement of knowledge, society, and civilization. (humassk)