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University Directory · Europe & Central Asia

Top 25 universities in Turkey

The 25 leading universities and higher education institutions in Turkey, ordered by the citations their research has received. Part of the WAC University Directory.

25 institutions listed · data October 2026

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  1. 1

    Hacettepe University

    Ankara, Turkey

    • 83,333 research works
    • 3.8 million citations
    • h-index 409
  2. 2

    Istanbul University

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 88,789 research works
    • 3.7 million citations
    • h-index 441
  3. 3

    Cukurova University

    Adana, Turkey

    • 33,739 research works
    • 2.9 million citations
    • h-index 470
  4. 4

    Middle East Technical University (METU)

    Ankara, Turkey

    • 50,056 research works
    • 2.7 million citations
    • h-index 433
  5. 5

    Ankara University

    Ankara, Turkey

    • 71,431 research works
    • 2.6 million citations
    • h-index 417
  6. 6

    Istanbul Technical University (ITU)

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 53,383 research works
    • 2.4 million citations
    • h-index 381
  7. 7

    Boğaziçi University

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 24,450 research works
    • 2 million citations
    • h-index 409
  8. 8

    Ege University

    Izmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

    • 53,247 research works
    • 2 million citations
    • h-index 314
  9. 9

    Gazi University

    Ankara, Turkey

    • 61,333 research works
    • 1.8 million citations
    • h-index 284
  10. 10

    Bilkent University

    Ankara, Turkey

    • 21,387 research works
    • 1.6 million citations
    • h-index 347
  11. 11

    Atatürk University

    Erzurum, Turkey

    • 42,697 research works
    • 1.5 million citations
    • h-index 272
  12. 12

    Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa (IUC)

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 40,968 research works
    • 1.4 million citations
    • h-index 294
  13. 13

    Marmara University (MU)

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 47,353 research works
    • 1.4 million citations
    • h-index 279
  14. 14

    Dokuz Eylül University (DEÜ)

    Izmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

    • 42,062 research works
    • 1.4 million citations
    • h-index 270
  15. 15

    Erciyes University

    Kayseri, Turkey

    • 35,666 research works
    • 1.3 million citations
    • h-index 270
  16. 16

    Selçuk University

    Konya, Turkey

    • 38,793 research works
    • 996 thousand citations
    • h-index 237
  17. 17

    Fırat University

    Elâzığ, Elazığ, Turkey

    • 29,861 research works
    • 994 thousand citations
    • h-index 262
  18. 18

    Karadeniz Technical University (KTU)

    Trabzon, Turkey

    • 27,489 research works
    • 900 thousand citations
    • h-index 226
  19. 19

    Koç University

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 24,535 research works
    • 876 thousand citations
    • h-index 279
  20. 20

    Akdeniz University

    Antalya, Turkey

    • 31,732 research works
    • 868 thousand citations
    • h-index 250
  21. 21

    Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi (SBU)

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 53,904 research works
    • 862 thousand citations
    • h-index 161
  22. 22

    Gaziantep University

    Gaziantep, Turkey

    • 21,834 research works
    • 828 thousand citations
    • h-index 267
  23. 23

    Yıldız Technical University (YTU)

    Istanbul, Turkey

    • 31,046 research works
    • 828 thousand citations
    • h-index 231
  24. 24

    Bursa Uludağ Üni̇versi̇tesi̇ (BUÜ)

    Bursa, Bursa Province, Turkey

    • 30,361 research works
    • 783 thousand citations
    • h-index 200
  25. 25

    Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU)

    Samsun, Turkey

    • 32,736 research works
    • 739 thousand citations
    • h-index 193

Ordered by total research citations recorded in OpenAlex (October 2026). Works, citations and h-index are OpenAlex figures for the institution. How the list is made.

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About the directory

How institutions are chosen and ordered

The directory lists 1436 universities, colleges and higher education institutions in 199 countries and territories. In countries with 200 or more higher education institutions recorded in OpenAlex it lists the top 25; everywhere else, the top 5.

Institutions are ordered by the total number of citations their research has received, as recorded in OpenAlex, the open catalogue of the world’s research, with data taken in October 2026. This is a transparent, research-based order: it favours large research institutions and does not measure teaching quality, student experience or graduate outcomes. University systems are left out in favour of their campuses, and faculties or institutes are left out when their parent university is already listed. Names, cities and websites come from OpenAlex and the Research Organization Registry (ROR).

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