USA's highly-cited researchers power ahead

Share this on social media:

The United States continues to lead the way in terms of highly cited researchers, according to a Clarivate Analytics report.

Now in its fifth year, the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list identifies influential researchers as determined by their peers around the globe – those who have consistently won recognition in the form of high citation counts over a decade. The Web of Science serves as the basis for the regular listings of researchers whose citation records position them in the top one percent by citations for their field and year.   

Key findings include:

  • Some 4000+ Highly Cited Researchers are named in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences;
  • The United States is home to the highest number of HCRs, with 2,639 authors. The United Kingdom boasts 546. China (mainland) is gaining fast with 482. Harvard University keeps its pole position on the list;
  • Among the 4,058 researchers named as Highly Cited in the 21 Essential Science Indicator (ESI) fields, 194, or 4.8 per cent, appear in two ESI fields. An elite 24 researchers, hailing from North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, appear in three fields;
  • New for 2018, approximately 2,000 additional researchers have also been identified as having exceptional performance based on high impact papers in several fields. Nations or regions with more than 40 per cent of their Highly Cited Researchers selected in the cross-field category are Sweden (53 per cent), Austria (53 per cent), Singapore (47 per cent), Denmark (47 per cent), China (43 per cent) and South Korea (42 per cent);
  • Australian research institutes continue to impress; the number of researchers recognised as highly cited has more than doubled in four years, from 80 in 2014 to 170 in 2018, among those selected in one or more of the 21 fields;
  • China (mainland) continues to march its way up the list and has overtaken Germany to reach the third spot on the top 10 country/region list;
  • The Highly Cited Researchers represent more than 60 nations, but more than 80 per cent of them are from the 10 nations listed below and 70 per cent from the first five – a remarkable concentration of top talent.

The top 10 countries are: United States; UK; China; Germany; Australia; Netherlands; Canada; France; Switzerland; and Spain.

Annette Thomas, CEO of the Scientific and Academic Research group, explained: ;The advancement of scientific endeavour represents a critical activity for individual research institutions and entire nations. The Highly Cited Researchers 2018  list helps to identify the researchers who are having the greatest impact on the research community as measured by the rate at which their work is being cited by others and that contributes so greatly to extending the frontier and gaining knowledge and innovations for society - contributions that make the world healthier, safer, richer, and more sustainable.'

The methodology draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts from the Institute of Scientific Information at Clarivate Analytics. It uses Essential Science Indicators, a compilation of science performance metrics and trend data based on scholarly paper publication counts and citation data from the Web of Science, the premier web-based environment of scientific and scholarly research literature totalling more than 33,000 journals. 

See the full report here.