Clarivate Identifies Global Scientific Pioneers with Annual Highly Cited Researchers List

Rhea-AI Summary

Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CCC) releases its 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list, recognizing 6,167 influential researchers globally. The US leads with 2,650 researchers (41.5%), although its share has decreased from 44% in 2019. Mainland China increases its representation to 770 researchers (12.1%), boosted by institutions like Tsinghua University. The list also features 26 Nobel laureates and 66 Citation Laureates. Notably, Europe and Australia show growth in their contributions to highly cited research, indicating a shift in global research dynamics.

Positive

• Recognition of 6,167 researchers underscores Clarivate's role in measuring research impact.
• Increased representation of Chinese researchers (12.1%) indicates growth in global scientific contributions.

Negative

• US share of Highly Cited Researchers decreased from 44% in 2019 to 41.5%, signaling a potential decline in its relative dominance.

USA dominates influential list of researchers recognized by their peers, but global landscape shifts as Chinese researchers capture a 12% share

LONDON, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CCC), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, unveiled its list of Highly Cited Researchers™ 2020 today. The highly anticipated annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science™ citation index.

The methodology that determines the "who's who" of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information™ at Clarivate. It also uses the tallies to identify the countries and research institutions where these scientific elite are based. 

The key findings for 2020 show:

• 6,167 researchers from more than 60 countries and regions have been recognized this year.
• Whilst the United States continues to dominate the list as the home to the highest number of Highly Cited Researchers, with 2,650 authors, representing 41.5% of the researchers on the list, its relative share of the list continues to decrease (44% in 2019).
• Harvard University, home to 188 researchers is once again the institution with the highest concentration of Highly Cited Researchers in the world. Its neighbors – the Broad Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology – join them towards the head of the list of leading global institutions – homes to 61 and 53 Highly Cited Researchers respectively.
• Mainland China's place on the list continues to surge – it is now the home to 770 (12.1% or 1:8) researchers on our list – up from 636 or 10.2% in 2019. Its rank has been boosted by the remarkable entry into the top ten of Tsinghua University, Beijing, moving up 10 places from 19th to 9th on the list together with the arrival in 2020 of Peking and Zhejiang Universities into the upper echelons of the list.
• Singapore shows strongly, represented by Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.
• Europe also has its fair share of good news. The numbers of Highly Cited Researchers based in Germany and the Netherlands have risen this year – both showed a drop last year. The Max Planck Society in Germany remains at number 5 on the list of institutions whilst Utrecht University (27 researchers) and Wageningen University & Research (24 researchers) in the Netherlands both moved up to the top tier of universities listed. The Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics flew 20 places up the institutional rank with the addition of a dozen Highly Cited Researchers this year.
• This year's list includes 26 Nobel laureates, including three announced this year:
• Emmanuelle Charpentier, Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, Berlin, Germany (Chemistry);
• Jennifer A. Doudna, University of California, Berkeley, United States (Chemistry); and,
• Reinhard Genzel, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany and University of California, Berkeley, United States (Physics).
• Also included are 66 Citation Laureates™: individuals recognized by Clarivate, through citation analysis, as 'of Nobel class' and potential Nobel Prize recipients.
• A total of 3,896 researchers are celebrated for their performance in the 21 Essential Science Indicator™ (ESI) fields, and 2,493 for cross-field performance, for a total of 6,167 unique researchers - as some truly extraordinary Highly Cited Researchers appear in more than one ESI category.
• Of the researchers named as Highly Cited in the 21 ESI fields, nine researchers showed exceptional broad performance, recognized for being highly cited in three or more categories. They are a truly global group – in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
• Australian research institutes continue to punch above their weight. In a country of just 25 million, the number of researchers recognized in 2020 is 305. Australian research institutions appear to have recruited a significant number of Highly Cited Researchers in recent years while also increasing their number of homegrown talent.

David Pendlebury, Senior Citation Analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information, said: "In the race for knowledge, it is human capital that is fundamental and this list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers who are having a great impact on the research community as measured by the rate at which their work is being cited by others."

Figure 1: Highly Cited Researchers by country or region

Rank	Nation	Number of Highly Cited Researchers	Percent of Highly Cited Researchers
1	United States	2650	41.5
2	Mainland China	770	12.1
3	United Kingdom	514	8.0
4	Germany	345	5.4
5	Australia	305	4.8
6	Canada	195	3.1
7	The Netherlands	181	2.8
8	France	160	2.5
9	Switzerland	154	2.4
10	Spain	103	1.6

 

 Figure 2: Highly Cited Researchers by research institution or organization

Institution	Nation	No. of Highly Cited Researchers
1.  Harvard University	USA	188
2.  Chinese Academy of Sciences	Mainland China	124
3.   Stanford University	USA	106
4.  National Institutes of Health	USA	103
5.  Max Planck Society	Germany	70
6.  University of California Berkeley	USA	62
7.  Broad Institute	USA	61
8.  University of California San Diego	USA	56
9.  Tsinghua University	Mainland China	55
10.  Washington University of St Louis	USA	54

Joel Haspel, SVP Strategy, Science at Clarivate: "Our analysis shows that the primary contribution to global scientific papers and advancement is being driven by the US and China. The story this year is about both countries' research success. The USA remains the scientific powerhouse of the world. China's progressive stance towards research and development over the past two decades has delivered highly cited, high-impact papers, increased international collaboration and translated its research into valuable intellectual property and innovation.

"As Chinese researchers have been encouraged to productively engage with the global research community, the US has been the primary destination for international students seeking advanced degrees as Chinese students form the largest number of international students in the US. Their success and futures are inter-twined." 

The full 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list and executive summary can be found here.

Follow us online: on Twitter @WebofScience   #HighlyCited2020.

Notes to editors:

Methodology

More than 6,000 researchers, in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences, and cross field categories were selected based on the number of highly cited papers they produced over an 11-year period from January 2009 to December 2019. The methodology that determines the who's who of researchers draws on data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. It uses InCites™ and Essential Science Indicators™   and a unique compilation of science performance metrics and trend data based on scholarly paper publication counts and citation data from the Web of Science™, the world's largest publisher-neutral citation index and research intelligence platform.

About Clarivate:

Clarivate™ is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the lifecycle of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers solve some of the world's most complex problems by providing actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of science and intellectual property. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

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SOURCE Clarivate Plc

FAQ

What does the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list reveal about US researchers?

The 2020 list shows the US has 2,650 researchers, representing 41.5% of the total, but its share has decreased from 44% in 2019.

How many researchers from Mainland China are included in the Highly Cited Researchers list for 2020?

Mainland China is represented by 770 researchers, accounting for 12.1% of the total list.

What institutions are leading in the number of Highly Cited Researchers?

Harvard University leads with 188 researchers, followed by institutions in Mainland China like the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

How many Nobel laureates were recognized in the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list?

This year's list includes 26 Nobel laureates across various fields.

What trends were observed in the European research community according to the 2020 list?

Europe saw an increase in researchers from Germany and the Netherlands, indicating a positive trend in scientific contributions.