Highly Cited Researchers program

Clarivate's Highly Cited Researchers program measures the amount of citations in Web of Science–indexed journals a paper or article has amassed, and honors certain top authors as a "Highly Cited Researcher" (HCR).^[1] Within the scientific community, Highly Cited Researchers are found as only 1 in every 1,000 scientists.^[2]

History

The list has been published yearly since 2001.^[3]

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.^[4]

Over 1,000 researchers were excluded from the 2023 list in total, largely for unethical citation practices and other examples of poor academic integrity.^[5] Specifically, researchers affiliated with Saudi Arabian universities saw a sharp decline from the previous years' rankings in 2023.^[6] In April 2023, El País revealed that Saudi universities had been paying researchers to add their institution as an affiliation.^[7] After correction, the number of HCRs affiliated with Saudi institutions dropped by 30%.^[8] Following the incident, Clarivate released a statement supporting integrity in researcher affiliations.^[9]

Trend analysis

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 amount of affiliations specifically to the Chinese Academy of Sciences decreased.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12] (For further information, see: Women in STEM fields and Sexism in academia)

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 science—Clarivate creates a list of papers that are in the top 1% most highly cited in their field,^[a] and admission to the HCR list is based on an author's number of papers in the top 1%.^[13]

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.^[14]

Prestige

Many institutions post a press release, blog post, or news story upon a faculty member being recognized in the program.^[b]

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.^[20]

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 amount of affiliated HCRs in its ranking criteria.^[21]

Notes

1. Excluding retracted papers and those with more than 30 authors and/or explicit group authorship.
2. See, for example:
   • University of California^[15]
   • Harvard University^[16]
   • Scripps Research^[17]
   • St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^[18]
   • University of Washington^[19]

References

1. "Highly Cited Researchers - FAQs". Clarivate. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
2. "Clarivate Identifies the One in 1,000 Citation Elite with Annual Highly Cited Researchers List". Clarivate. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
3. "HCR 2023 guidance for PR departments". Clarivate. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
4. Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A.; Bernès, Sylvain (February 2018). "Clarivate Analytics: Continued Omnia vanitas Impact Factor Culture". Science and Engineering Ethics. 24 (1): 291–297. doi:10.1007/s11948-017-9873-7. ISSN 1353-3452. PMID 28233146. S2CID 24412956.
5. Jack, Patrick (18 November 2023). "Over 1,000 excluded from highly cited researcher list for 'fraud'". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
6. Catanzaro, Michele (27 November 2023). "Saudi universities lose highly cited researchers after payment schemes raise ethics concerns". ScienceInsider. doi:10.1126/science.zhs1429.
7. Ansede, Manuel (18 April 2023). "Saudi Arabia pays Spanish scientists to pump up global university rankings". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
8. Ansede, Manuel (25 November 2023). "The list of the world's most-cited scientists excludes 1,000 researchers over fraudulent practices". EL PAÍS. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
9. "Clarivate statement on Highly Cited Researcher affiliations". Clarivate. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
10. Li, John Tianci (24 April 2018). "On the advancement of highly cited research in China: An analysis of the Highly Cited database". PLoS ONE. 13 (4): e0196341. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1396341L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196341. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5918168. PMID 29689100.
11. Shamsi, Amrollah; Lund, Brady; Mansourzadeh, Mohammad Javad (7 January 2022). "Gender Disparities Among Highly Cited Researchers in Biomedicine, 2014-2020". JAMA Network Open. 5 (1): e2142513. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42513. ISSN 2574-3805. PMC 8742200. PMID 34994797.
12. Meho, Lokman I. (2022). "Gender gap among highly cited researchers, 2014–2021". Quantitative Science Studies. 3 (4): 1003–1023. doi:10.1162/qss_a_00218. ISSN 2641-3337.
13. Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Kranke, Nina (1 December 2023). "Some thoughts on transparency of the data and analysis behind the Highly Cited Researchers list". Scientometrics. 128 (12): 6773–6780. doi:10.1007/s11192-023-04852-w. ISSN 1588-2861.
14. Citation cartels help some mathematicians—and their universities—climb the rankings (Report). 30 January 2024. doi:10.1126/science.zcl2s6d.
15. "UC researchers among the most influential in the world, according to Clarivate's 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list". University of California.
16. "Harvard Chan School faculty among most highly cited in the world". Harvard University.
17. "Numerous Scripps Research scientists named Highly Cited Researchers". Scripps Research.
18. "'Highly cited' St. Jude scientists named to annual list". St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
19. "Clarivate announces Highly Cited Researchers 2023". University of Washington.
20. Kamali, Negin; Rahimi, Farid; Talebi Bezmin Abadi, Amin (1 April 2022). "Learning from Retracted Papers Authored by the Highly Cited Iran-affiliated Researchers: Revisiting Research Policies and a Key Message to Clarivate Analytics". Science and Engineering Ethics. 28 (2): 18. doi:10.1007/s11948-022-00368-3. ISSN 1471-5546. S2CID 255425939.
21. Docampo, Domingo; Cram, Lawrence (1 March 2019). "Highly cited researchers: a moving target". Scientometrics. 118 (3): 1011–1025. doi:10.1007/s11192-018-2993-2. ISSN 0138-9130. S2CID 59259748.

Further reading

• Aksnes, Dag W.; Aagaard, Kaare (8 March 2021). "Lone Geniuses or One among Many? An Explorative Study of Contemporary Highly Cited Researchers". Journal of Data and Information Science. 6 (2): 41–66. doi:10.2478/jdis-2021-0019. hdl:11250/2732439.
• Bornmann, Lutz; Bauer, Johann; Schlagberger, Elisabeth Maria (April 2017). "Characteristics of highly cited researchers 2015 in Germany". Scientometrics. 111 (1): 543–545. doi:10.1007/s11192-017-2248-7. ISSN 1588-2861. S2CID 41484307.
• Bornmann, Lutz; Bauer, Johann; Schlagberger, Elisabeth Maria (2 January 2018). "Highly Cited Researchers 2014 and 2015: An investigation of some of the world's most influential scientific minds on the institutional and country level". COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management. 12 (1): 15–33. doi:10.1080/09737766.2017.1332610. ISSN 0973-7766. S2CID 197683018.
• Confraria, Hugo; Blanckenberg, Jaco; Swart, Charl (1 July 2018). "The characteristics of highly cited researchers in Africa". Research Evaluation. 27 (3): 222–237. doi:10.1093/reseval/rvy017. ISSN 0958-2029.
• Lund, Brady D. (December 2022). "Highly-Cited Researchers at Non-Research Colleges and Universities in the United States: Prolific Schools, Top Researchers, and Their Attributes". Innovative Higher Education. 47 (6): 1025–1041. doi:10.1007/s10755-022-09626-5. ISSN 1573-1758. S2CID 253364212.
• Martinez, Magdalena; Sá, Creso (February 2020). "Highly Cited in the South: International Collaboration and Research Recognition Among Brazil's Highly Cited Researchers". Journal of Studies in International Education. 24 (1): 39–58. doi:10.1177/1028315319888890. ISSN 1028-3153. S2CID 210481501.
• Mas-Bleda, Amalia; Thelwall, Mike; Kousha, Kayvan; Aguillo, Isidro F. (1 October 2014). "Do highly cited researchers successfully use the social web?". Scientometrics. 101 (1): 337–356. doi:10.1007/s11192-014-1345-0. hdl:10261/97244. ISSN 1588-2861. S2CID 255008333.

External links

• Highly Cited Researchers, Clarivate