Toward global visibility: Strategic priorities for enhancing Cambodian universities’ presence in the global university rankings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2025.05.01.07Abstract
In light of the global trend toward world university rankings and the current performance of Cambodian universities in these international rankings, this editorial aims to emphasize the need to strengthen Cambodian universities' presence in global university rankings. It begins by discussing Cambodian universities’ performance in international university rankings to set the scene for the urgent need to increase Cambodian universities’ presence on the global stage. The editorial then explains why global university rankings matter for Cambodia before discussing key strategic priorities that Cambodian universities should consider to improve their presence and visibility internationally. It concludes with an overview of the articles included in this issue of the Cambodian Journal of Educational Research.
Downloads
References
Altbach, P. (2003). The costs and benefits of world-class universities. International Higher Education, 33, 5–8. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2003.33.7381
Altbach, P. G. (2013). Advancing the national and global knowledge economy: The role of research universities in developing countries. Studies in Higher Education, 38(3), 316–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.773222
AppliedHE. (n.d.). Private University Ranking ASEAN 2025. https://appliedhe.com/private-university-ranking-asean-2025/
Ban, T., & Heng, K. (2023). Improving the quality of Cambodian higher education: Key challenges and suggestions. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 3(2), 35–61. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2023.03.02.03
Barrot, J. S. (2023). Research on education in Southeast Asia (1996–2019): A bibliometric review. Educational Review, 75(2), 348–368. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1907313
Bautista-Puig, N., Orduña-Malea, E., & Perez-Esparrells, C. (2022). Enhancing sustainable development goals or promoting universities? An analysis of the times higher education impact rankings. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23(8), 211–231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-07-2021-0309
Bou, D. (2025). Challenges and suggestions for improving the quality of higher education in Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 5(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2025.05.01.03
Doeur, B. (2022). Promoting higher education reforms in Cambodia: Challenges and the way forward. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 2(2), 116–128. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2022.02.02.07
Eam, P. (2015). Factors differentiating research involvement among faculty members: A perspective from Cambodia. Excellence in Higher Education, 6(1&2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5195/ehe.2015.133
Heng, K. (2020, October 24). Post-pandemic, higher education reform is the priority. University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201020094948838
Heng, K. (2021). Steps to promote academic research in Cambodia. Cambodia Development Center. https://www.cd-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/P124_20210313_V3IS4_EN.pdf
Heng, K. (2022). Investigating research engagement of Cambodian academics: Challenges and opportunities [PhD Thesis, The University of Queensland]. UQ eSpace. https://doi.org/10.14264/56214e1
Heng, K. (2023). Cambodia’s aspirations to become a knowledge-based society: Perspectives of Cambodian university students. CDRI Working Paper Series No. 138. Cambodia Development Resource Institute. https://cdri.org.kh/publication/cambodia-s-aspirations-to-become-a-knowledge-based-society-perspectives-of-cambodian-university-students
Heng, K. (2023). Cambodia’s aspirations to become a knowledge-based society: Perspectives of Cambodian university students. CDRI Working Paper Series No. 138. Cambodia Development Resource Institute. https://cdri.org.kh/publication/cambodia-s-aspirations-to-become-a-knowledge-based-society-perspectives-of-cambodian-university-students
Heng, K. (2024). Understanding Cambodian provincial university students’ perspectives on Cambodia’s vision to become a knowledge-based society. Sage Open, 14(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241242197
Heng, K., & Sol, K. (2021). Academic research in Cambodia: Progress, challenges, and ways forward. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 1(2), 6–23. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2021.01.02.02
Heng, K., & Sol, K. (2022). Education: Key to making Cambodia great again. Cambodia Development Center. https://www.cd-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/P124_V4IS3_20220621_EN.pdf
Heng, K., & Sol, K. (2023a). Challenges facing higher education in Cambodia and ideas for reform. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 3(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2023.03.01.01
Heng, K., & Sol, K. (2023b). Skills mismatches in Cambodian higher education: Major causes and possible solutions. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 3(1), 76–91. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2023.03.01.04
Heng, K., Doeur, B., & Din, L. (2023a). Promoting higher education quality in Cambodia: Challenges and recommendations. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 3(1), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2023.03.01.05
Heng, K., Hamid, M. O., & Khan, A. (2023b). Research engagement of academics in the Global South: The case of Cambodian academics. Globalization, Societies and Education, 21(3), 322–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2040355
Kong, S., & Sok, S. (2024). Unveiling scholarly publications in Scopus contributed to the SDGs: A lesson learned from a Cambodian university. Journal of Cambodian Health, 2(2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.70243/jch2024.2203
Kumar, S., Rohani, V. A., & Ratnavelu, K. (2014). International research collaborations of ASEAN nations in economics, 1979–2010. Scientometrics, 101(1), 847–867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1363-y
Lee, J. (2013). Creating world-class universities: Implications for developing countries. Prospects, 43, 233–249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-013-9266-x
MoEYS. (2024). Education congress: The education, youth and sport performance in the academic year 2022–2023 and goals for the academic year 2023–2024.
MoEYS. (2025). Education congress: The education, youth and sport performance in the academic year 2023–2024 and goals for the academic year 2024–2025.
QS. (2025, June 14). QS World University Rankings. https://support.qs.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4405955370898-QS-World-University-Rankings
RGC. (2023). Pentagonal strategy-Phase I for growth, employment, equity, efficiency and sustainability: Building the foundation towards realizing the Cambodia vision 2050.
Ros, V., & Heng, K. (2022). University research productivity in Cambodia: An analysis of Scopus-indexed publications. In G. Croucher, C. Wang, & J. Yang (Eds.), The performance of Asian higher education: Understanding productivity across institutions and systems (pp. 40–58). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003288954-3
Ros, V., & Sol, K. (2021). The quest for world-class universities: A goal for Cambodian universities? Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 1(2), 24–40. https://doi.org/10.62037/cjer.2021.01.02.03
Salmi, J. (2009). The challenge of establishing world-class universities. The World Bank. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2600
Sok, S., & Bunry, R. (2021). Internationalization of higher education in Cambodia: Toward an agenda for higher education development. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 23(3), 193–211. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-08-2020-0049
THE. (2024, September). Methodology for overall and subject rankings for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/sites/default/files/breaking_news_files/the_2025_world_university_rankings_methodology.pdf
THE. (n.d.-a). University Impact Rankings 2025. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/impactrankings#!/length/25/locations/KHM/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc
THE. (n.d.-b). World Reputation Rankings 2025: Top universities by prestige. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking
THE. (n.d.-c). World University Rankings 2025. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking
Tran, L. T., Jung, J., Unangst, L., & Marshall, S. (2023). New developments in internationalisation of higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(5), 1033–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2216062
Wang, Q. H., Wang, Q., & Liu, N. C. (2011). Building world-class universities in China: Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In Altbach, P. G. & Salmi, J. (Eds.), The road to academic excellence: The making of world-class research universities (pp. 33–62). World Bank.
WURI. (n.d.-a). Top 100 in thirteen categories. https://www.wuri.world/_files/ugd/a35fe8_34a646e0e7854bf292b577a3280c423d.pdf
WURI. (n.d.-b). What is WURI. https://www.wuri.world/what-is-wuri
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The articles published by this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
