Algeria ranks first in the Arab world for scientific publishing and citations, according to the 2026 annual report by Arcif, the Arab scientific journals’ impact and citation index. The report is its eleventh edition.
It lists 425 Algerian scientific and research journals that meet Arcif’s criteria, which are compatible with international standards. These journals account for 23.6% of all Arab journals included in the report. Algeria also leads in the number of Arab authors whose work has been cited: 31,554, or 23.4% of the total recorded.
The figures reflect Algeria’s presence in scientific work published in Arabic, through its institutions and journals as well as its authors’ research and the citations it receives. The report followed a review of more than 1,070,000 studies published in Arab academic and research journals and tracked, examined and documented in Arcif’s annual reports.
Sami Al-Khazandar, head of the Arcif initiative, said the 2026 findings and earlier annual reports show trends in the standing and quality of scientific journals and Arab authors, as well as the research impact of Arab universities and research institutions. They also chart the growth of reliable, distinctive data on scientific production and publishing in Arabic, and the importance of that information for assessing research publishing in Arab countries.
The report said global indicators had not been able to provide or access these data. It added that Arcif had helped bring Arab scientific production from obscurity to international recognition. Arcif is described as a methodological tool for measuring the relative importance of research and scientific journals, comparing them within their fields and assessing their scholarly impact through strict standardized equations based on international measures.
Arcif is overseen by a supervisory and coordination council whose representatives include the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in the Arab States in Beirut, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Ma‘rifa digital database. Its scientific committee comprises respected Arab experts and academics from several Arab countries and the United Kingdom.