The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

James Cook University

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World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 236–590 of 1,240 · score 46.0
Research Index 422

How it scores

Research
66
Alumni outcomes
50
Admissions & earnings
=4/28

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 1,240 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country (Australia).

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Median graduate salary (QILT)
A$80,000 src
Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
1 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
0 src
Students (undergraduate / total)
11,796 / 18,204

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
75.1
B · Strength
47.5

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: 310. On strength alone: =685. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
11.7% (10.9%–12.6%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
1.3% (1.0%–1.7%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
306
All papers (fractional count)
2,609
International co-authored
59.3%
Open access
69.5%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
1 (0.13 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences=489range 349–678 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences=100range 68–177 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science–fewer than 200 papers
Physical sciences & engineering–fewer than 200 papers
Social sciences & humanities=512range 359–687 of 1,262

Position over time

top 30%2006–2009: 384 of 5712020–2023: 422 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

422Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

No Nobel, Fields, Turing or Abel laureates linked to this university in Wikidata.