Clarivate Reveals Highly Cited Researchers 2024 List

Prioritizing research integrity with enhanced filters to address publication and citation manipulation

LONDON, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, today revealed its 2024 list of Highly Cited Researchers™ – influential researchers at universities, research institutes and commercial organizations around the world who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research.

Analysts at the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)™ have recognized 6,636 Highly Cited Researchers in 2024 from more than 1,200 institutions in 59 nations and regions. The rigorous evaluation and selection process draws on data from the Web of Science Core Collection™ citation index, together with qualitative analysis performed by experts at the ISI at Clarivate™.

The list provides valuable insights into the global landscape of top research talent and identifies trends across countries, regions and institutions. Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR made sizeable gains, while the United States gradually lost share. This trend reflects a geographic, political and cultural rebalancing of top-tier scientific and scholarly contributions.

Bar Veinstein, President of Academia & Government at Clarivate said: "We celebrate these Highly Cited Researchers whose exceptional and community-wide influence shapes the future of science, technology and academia globally. We honor not just their scientific achievement but their impact on driving innovation and addressing wider societal challenges to help transform our world."

In response to global trends in the research landscape, the evaluation and selection process for Highly Cited Researchers continues to evolve with the addition of enhanced filters to address hyper-authorship, excessive self-citation, anomalous citation patterns and more. This ensures that recognized researchers meet the benchmarks required for the Highly Cited Researchers program, emphasizing the commitment of Clarivate to research integrity.

David Pendlebury, Head of Research Analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate said: "As the need for high-quality data from rigorously selected sources becomes ever more critical, we continue to refine our evaluation and selection policies to address the challenges of an increasingly complex and polluted scholarly record. The Highly Cited Researchers program reflects our dedication to recognizing global influence while maintaining robust selection standards."

A snapshot of the global research landscape for 2024 shows: 

• The United States remains the world leader with 2,507 Highly Cited Researcher awards, which amounts to a 36.4% world share*. This share has steadily declined from 43.3% in 2018.
• Meanwhile, Mainland China has surged again this year with a tally of 1,405 Highly Cited Researcher awards, representing 20.4% of the list – more than doubling its share since 2018. Tsinghua University (92) moves up one slot on the list to secure the fourth position replacing the U.S. National Institutes of Health (90).
• 6,636 individual researchers from institutions in 59 countries/regions have been named. 85.4% are based in just 10 countries/regions and 74.4% are in the top five.
• Some researchers are recognized in multiple Essential Science Indicators™ (ESI) research fields: 216 are named in two fields and 22 in three or more fields.
• Some U.S. states such as California have an exceptionally high concentration of Highly Cited Researchers (552, almost as many as the United Kingdom).
• Hong Kong SAR has seen strong growth, with its number of Highly Cited Researchers rising to 134, claiming a 1.9% share of the global total.
• The list includes researchers conducting groundbreaking work at leading organizations across diverse fields, such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, solar technology, information technology and more. These include organizations from across the globe including AstraZeneca (1), Bayer AG (2), Beijing Genomics Institute (4), DeepMind Technologies (1), Google Incorporated (4), Microsoft Inc. (2) and Roche Holding (5).
• Among all institutions, including governmental and other types of research organizations, the Chinese Academy of Sciences heads the list with 308 Highly Cited Researcher recognitions, up from 270 last year. Other top-ranked governmental or non-university institutions include the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) (90), Max Planck Society (56) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (44).

Figure 1: Top 10 countries/regions by Highly Cited Researcher

Figure 2: Top 10 homes to Highly Cited Researchers 

The full Highly Cited Researchers 2024 list, analysis and evaluation and selection policy are available here. 

Follow us on social media: @ClarivateAG / Clarivate for Academia & Government / #HighlyCited2024. 

Our evaluation and selection process for Highly Cited Researchers 2024
The Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate is an annual recognition of influential scientists and social scientists worldwide who have made broad and significant contributions to their fields. This year, 6,886 Highly Cited Researcher 2024 awards were issued to 6,636 individuals. The number of awards exceeds the number of unique individuals because some researchers are recognized in more than one Essential Science Indicators (ESI) field of research.
*Our analysis of countries/regions and institutions counts designated awards and is thus based on the total of 6,886. The 2024 list features 3,560 Highly Cited Researcher awards in the 20 fields, with an additional 3,326 recognitions for outstanding performance in multiple fields (cross-field).
The selection process involves rigorous evaluation and curation of data from Highly Cited Papers™ in trusted science and social sciences journals indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded™ and Social Sciences Citation Index™ during the 11-year period 2013 to 2023. Prior to the launch of the 2024 list, Clarivate engaged with selected researchers in an extensive validation and feedback process to maintain the accuracy of the list.

About Clarivate
Clarivate™ is a leading global provider of transformative intelligence. We offer enriched data, insights & analytics, workflow solutions and expert services in the areas of Academia & Government, Intellectual Property and Life Sciences & Healthcare. For more information, please visit www.clarivate.com

Media contact:
Helen Chung-Kesl, External Communications Manager, Academia & Government
[email protected]

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SOURCE Clarivate Plc