UK scientists and scholars among top 2% of world’s most-cited researchers

By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 11, 2023) — The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 119 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing their work in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal is a key step in sharing research findings and new discoveries. 

“Being cited is one sign that your work matters to the research community,” said Lisa Cassis, Ph.D., UK vice president for research. “We acknowledge that citation metrics can have issues including gender bias and underrepresentation of community-focused and non-STEM research — the same issues with which the research community at-large is grappling. The University of Kentucky is dedicated to an inclusive culture of research across all spectrums of inquiry, and we value the contributions of all faculty, staff and student researchers. UK’s world-recognized research is impacting the community and producing innovations that make Kentucky and the world healthier, wealthier and wiser. We congratulate these outstanding individuals for this citation recognition.”

The database, updated October 2023 and available through the Elsevier Data Repository, was compiled by Stanford faculty member John P.A. Ioannidis. Database inclusion means the individual met a variety of metrics that place them among the top 2% of researchers based on citations.

In addition to appearing on Elsevier’s list, one UK faculty member — Sherali Zeadally, Ph.D., University of Kentucky Alumni Association Endowed Professor in the College of Communication and Information's School of Information Science and University Research Professor — also appeared on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list, which identifies scholars whose work has been cited most often in papers over the past decade. Those chosen for the 2023 list authored studies that rank in the top 1% in the number of scholarly citations worldwide within their disciplines. Zeadally has appeared on Clarivate’s list for four consecutive years.

The following UK researchers (current, in alphabetical order) appeared on Elsevier’s top 2% of world’s most-cited researchers list:

About Elsevier’s list
This publicly available database of top-cited scientists provides standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions and a composite indicator (c-score). Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. Field- and subfield-specific percentiles are also provided for all scientists with at least five papers. The selection is based on the top 100,000 scientists by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above in the sub-field. Calculations were performed using all Scopus author profiles as of Oct. 1, 2023. Learn more.

About Clarivate’s list
Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers program identifies individuals who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. The 2023 list contains 7,125 Highly Cited Researchers in total: 3,793 Highly Cited Researchers in 20 fields of the sciences and social sciences and 3,332 individuals identified as having exceptional performance across several fields. Learn more.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.