Highly Cited Researchers

The list has been published yearly since 2001.{{Cite web |title=HCR 2023 guidance for PR departments |url=https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/hcr-2023-guidance-pr-departments/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=Clarivate |language=en}}

In 2016, Clarivate sent a congratulatory email to many researchers who had not actually received the designation. It was not disclosed how many researchers the congratulations were erroneously sent to.{{Cite journal |last1=Teixeira da Silva |first1=Jaime A. |last2=Bernès |first2=Sylvain |date=February 2018 |title=Clarivate Analytics: Continued Omnia vanitas Impact Factor Culture |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11948-017-9873-7 |journal=Science and Engineering Ethics |language=en |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=291–297 |doi=10.1007/s11948-017-9873-7 |issn=1353-3452 |pmid=28233146 |s2cid=24412956}}

Over 1,000 researchers were excluded from the 2023 list in total, largely for unethical citation practices and other examples of poor academic integrity.{{Cite web |last=Jack |first=Patrick |date=2023-11-18 |title=Over 1,000 excluded from highly cited researcher list for 'fraud' |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/over-1000-excluded-highly-cited-researcher-list-fraud |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=Times Higher Education |language=en}} Specifically, researchers affiliated with Saudi Arabian universities saw a sharp decline from the previous years' rankings in 2023.{{Cite journal |last=Catanzaro |first=Michele |date=November 27, 2023 |title=Saudi universities lose highly cited researchers after payment schemes raise ethics concerns |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/saudi-universities-lose-highly-cited-researchers-after-payment-schemes-raise-ethics |journal=ScienceInsider |doi=10.1126/science.zhs1429}} In April 2023, El País revealed that Saudi universities had been paying researchers to add their institution as an affiliation.{{Cite web |last=Ansede |first=Manuel |date=2023-04-18 |title=Saudi Arabia pays Spanish scientists to pump up global university rankings |url=https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-04-18/saudi-arabia-pays-spanish-scientists-to-pump-up-global-university-rankings.html |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=EL PAÍS |language=en-us}} After correction, the number of HCRs affiliated with Saudi institutions dropped by 30%.{{Cite web |last=Ansede |first=Manuel |date=2023-11-25 |title=The list of the world's most-cited scientists excludes 1,000 researchers over fraudulent practices |url=https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-11-25/the-list-of-the-worlds-most-cited-scientists-excludes-1000-researchers-over-fraudulent-practices.html |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=EL PAÍS |language=en-us}} Following the incident, Clarivate released a statement supporting integrity in researcher affiliations.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Clarivate statement on Highly Cited Researcher affiliations |url=https://clarivate.com/news/clarivate-statement-on-highly-cited-researcher-affiliations/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=Clarivate |language=en}}

From 2001 to 2016, the percentage of HCRs affiliated with institutions from mainland China increased, reflecting the increased spending on research conducted by Chinese colleges and universities, though during this time, the number of affiliations specifically to the Chinese Academy of Sciences decreased.{{Cite journal |last=Li |first=John Tianci |date=2018-04-24 |title=On the advancement of highly cited research in China: An analysis of the Highly Cited database |journal=PLoS ONE |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=e0196341 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0196341 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=5918168 |pmid=29689100 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1396341L |doi-access=free }}

The proportion of women in the HCR list has been studied, with results suggesting that research by women receives less citations, as they represented only 16% of the researchers on the list.{{Cite journal |last1=Shamsi |first1=Amrollah |last2=Lund |first2=Brady |last3=Mansourzadeh |first3=Mohammad Javad |date=2022-01-07 |title=Gender Disparities Among Highly Cited Researchers in Biomedicine, 2014-2020 |journal=JAMA Network Open |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=e2142513 |doi=10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42513 |pmid=34994797 |issn=2574-3805|doi-access=free |pmc=8742200 }} Research has also shown that in the fields of chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics and astronomy, where the biggest disparity occurs, women constitute 4–7% of the HCRs although they make up over 25% of authors in the field.{{Cite journal |last=Meho |first=Lokman I. |date=2022 |title=Gender gap among highly cited researchers, 2014–2021 |journal=Quantitative Science Studies |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=1003–1023 |doi=10.1162/qss_a_00218 |issn=2641-3337|doi-access=free }} (For further information, see: Women in STEM fields and Sexism in academia)

As of their 2022 list, Clarivate uses "performance statistics" from data in the Web of Science. There are 21 specific fields, and one for interdisciplinary science—Clarivate creates a list of papers that are in the top 1% most highly cited in their field,{{Efn|Excluding retracted papers and those with more than 30 authors and/or explicit group authorship.}} and admission to the HCR list is based on an author's number of papers in the top 1%.{{Cite journal |last1=Klein |first1=Alexandra-Maria |last2=Kranke |first2=Nina |date=2023-12-01 |title=Some thoughts on transparency of the data and analysis behind the Highly Cited Researchers list |journal=Scientometrics |language=en |volume=128 |issue=12 |pages=6773–6780 |doi=10.1007/s11192-023-04852-w |issn=1588-2861|doi-access=free }}

The resulting list of highly cited researchers can be manipulated by citation cartels. After it was found that obscure researchers had displaced eminent mathematicians in the list, Clarivate had to remove the whole field of mathematics from the list in 2023.{{cite report | title=Citation cartels help some mathematicians—and their universities—climb the rankings | date=2024-01-30 | doi=10.1126/science.zcl2s6d | page=}}

Many institutions post a press release, blog post, or news story upon a faculty member being recognized in the program.{{Efn|See, for example:

• University of California{{Cite web |title=UC researchers among the most influential in the world, according to Clarivate's 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list |url=https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc-researchers-among-most-influential-world-according-clarivates-2023-highly-cited-researchers |website= |date=|publisher=University of California |language=en}}
• Harvard University{{Cite web |title=Harvard Chan School faculty among most highly cited in the world |date= |url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/harvard-chan-school-faculty-among-most-highly-cited-in-the-world/ |publisher=Harvard University |language=en-us}}
• Scripps Research{{Cite web |title=Numerous Scripps Research scientists named Highly Cited Researchers |url=https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2023/20231115-highly-cited-researchers.html |publisher=Scripps Research |language=en}}
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital{{Cite web |title='Highly cited' St. Jude scientists named to annual list |url=https://www.stjude.org/media-resources/news-releases/2023-medicine-science-news/highly-cited-st-jude-scientists-named-to-annual-list.html |publisher=St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |language=en}}
• University of Washington{{Cite web |title=Clarivate announces Highly Cited Researchers 2023 |url=https://newsroom.uw.edu/blog/clarivate-announces-highly-cited-researchers-2023 |publisher=University of Washington}}}}

The list of HCRs has been used to create a specific list of authoritative researchers; one study specifically used HCRs to show trends of retractions in Iran.{{Cite journal |last1=Kamali |first1=Negin |last2=Rahimi |first2=Farid |last3=Talebi Bezmin Abadi |first3=Amin |date=2022-04-01 |title=Learning from Retracted Papers Authored by the Highly Cited Iran-affiliated Researchers: Revisiting Research Policies and a Key Message to Clarivate Analytics |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-022-00368-3 |journal=Science and Engineering Ethics |language=en |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=18 |doi=10.1007/s11948-022-00368-3 |pmid=35362834 |s2cid=255425939 |issn=1471-5546}}

As of 2019, the list is also used as a factor in determining the rank of a college in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, which uses the number of affiliated HCRs in its ranking criteria.{{Cite journal |last1=Docampo |first1=Domingo |last2=Cram |first2=Lawrence |date=1 March 2019 |title=Highly cited researchers: a moving target |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-018-2993-2 |journal=Scientometrics |language=en |volume=118 |issue=3 |pages=1011–1025 |doi=10.1007/s11192-018-2993-2 |s2cid=59259748 |issn=0138-9130}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite journal |last1=Aksnes |first1=Dag W. |last2=Aagaard |first2=Kaare |date=2021-03-08 |title=Lone Geniuses or One among Many? An Explorative Study of Contemporary Highly Cited Researchers |journal=Journal of Data and Information Science |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=41–66 |doi=10.2478/jdis-2021-0019|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/2732439 |hdl-access=free }}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Bornmann |first1=Lutz |last2=Bauer |first2=Johann |last3=Schlagberger |first3=Elisabeth Maria |date=April 2017 |title=Characteristics of highly cited researchers 2015 in Germany |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2248-7 |journal=Scientometrics |language=en |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=543–545 |doi=10.1007/s11192-017-2248-7 |s2cid=41484307 |issn=1588-2861}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Bornmann |first1=Lutz |last2=Bauer |first2=Johann |last3=Schlagberger |first3=Elisabeth Maria |date=2018-01-02 |title=Highly Cited Researchers 2014 and 2015: An investigation of some of the world's most influential scientific minds on the institutional and country level |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09737766.2017.1332610 |journal=COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=15–33 |doi=10.1080/09737766.2017.1332610 |s2cid=197683018 |issn=0973-7766}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Confraria |first1=Hugo |last2=Blanckenberg |first2=Jaco |last3=Swart |first3=Charl |date=2018-07-01 |title=The characteristics of highly cited researchers in Africa |url=https://academic.oup.com/rev/article/27/3/222/5038095 |journal=Research Evaluation |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=222–237 |doi=10.1093/reseval/rvy017 |issn=0958-2029}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Lund |first=Brady D. |date=December 2022 |title=Highly-Cited Researchers at Non-Research Colleges and Universities in the United States: Prolific Schools, Top Researchers, and Their Attributes |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-022-09626-5 |journal=Innovative Higher Education |language=en |volume=47 |issue=6 |pages=1025–1041 |doi=10.1007/s10755-022-09626-5 |s2cid=253364212 |issn=1573-1758}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Martinez |first1=Magdalena |last2=Sá |first2=Creso |date=February 2020 |title=Highly Cited in the South: International Collaboration and Research Recognition Among Brazil's Highly Cited Researchers |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1028315319888890 |journal=Journal of Studies in International Education |language=en |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=39–58 |doi=10.1177/1028315319888890 |s2cid=210481501 |issn=1028-3153}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Mas-Bleda |first1=Amalia |last2=Thelwall |first2=Mike |last3=Kousha |first3=Kayvan |last4=Aguillo |first4=Isidro F. |date=2014-10-01 |title=Do highly cited researchers successfully use the social web? |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1345-0 |journal=Scientometrics |language=en |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=337–356 |doi=10.1007/s11192-014-1345-0 |hdl=10261/97244 |s2cid=255008333 |issn=1588-2861|hdl-access=free }}

==See also==

• Science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators

• {{Official website|https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/}}

{{Academic publishing|state=collapsed}}

Category:Clarivate

Category:Publications established in 2001

Category:Research-related lists