Highly Cited Researchers is a list published annually by
Clarivate
Clarivate Plc is a British-American Public company, publicly traded analytics company that operates a collection of subscription business model, subscription-based services, in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics; business intelligenc ...
of
academic authors whose
publications
To publish is to make Content (media), content available to the general public.[Berne Conv ...](_blank)
have received particularly high numbers of
citations
A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...
in
academic journal
An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...
s indexed by ''
Web of Science
The Web of Science (WoS; previously known as Web of Knowledge) is a paid-access platform that provides (typically via the internet) access to multiple databases that provide reference and citation data from academic journals, conference proceedi ...
''. These constitute approximately of all scientific researchers.
History
The list has been published yearly since 2001.
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.
Over 1,000 researchers were excluded from the 2023 list in total, largely for unethical citation practices and other examples of poor academic integrity. Specifically, researchers affiliated with
Saudi Arabian universities saw a sharp decline from the previous years' rankings in 2023. In April 2023, ''
El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'' revealed that Saudi universities had been paying researchers to add their institution as an affiliation. After correction, the number of HCRs affiliated with Saudi institutions dropped by 30%. Following the incident, Clarivate released a statement supporting integrity in researcher affiliations.
Trend analysis
From 2001 to 2016, the percentage of HCRs affiliated with institutions from
mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
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
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...
decreased.
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. Research has also shown that in the fields of
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
,
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
,
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, and
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
and
astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
, where the biggest disparity occurs, women constitute 4–7% of the HCRs although they make up over 25% of authors in the field. (''For further information, see:
Women in STEM fields
Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have remained predominantly male with historically low participation among women since the origins of these fields in the 18th ce ...
and
Sexism in academia
Sexism in academia refers to the academic bias and discrimination by a particular sex or gender in academic institutions, particularly university, universities, due to the ideologies, practices, and reinforcements that privilege one sex or gend ...
'')
Methodology
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
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
science—Clarivate creates a list of papers that are in the top 1% most highly cited in their field, and admission to the HCR list is based on an author's number of papers in the top 1%.
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.
Prestige
Many institutions post a
press release
A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...
, blog post, or news story upon a faculty member being recognized in the program.
Usage
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
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
.
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
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...
'', which uses the number of affiliated HCRs in its ranking criteria.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
See also
*
Science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators
External links
*
{{Academic publishing, state=collapsed
Clarivate
Publications established in 2001
Research-related lists