The University of California is once again the global leader in scientific research, according to Clarivate’s 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list, with 317 faculty and scientists from across all 10 campuses named as among the most influential in their fields.
UC researchers, including those at the national labs, made up nearly 5 percent of the global total of 6,849 individuals included in the list. Four UC campuses placed among the top 25 most highly cited institutions in the world.
To qualify for Clarivate’s list, a scholar must have authored multiple papers over the last decade that have been repeatedly cited by other researchers in their field, constituting the top 1 percent for citations in a particular discipline. According to Clarivate, these thought leaders are 1 in 1000.
UC San Diego ranked No. 7 among all institutions across the globe with 71 recipients of the highly cited designation, while UCSF claimed No. 11 with 58, UC Berkeley No. 15 with 52, and UCLA No. 20 with 45. Many of the university’s highly cited researchers are affiliated with multiple UC campuses, and also receive support from university-wide programs or UC Health. The expertise of these highly cited scholars ranges widely, from agricultural science to clinical medicine to economics and the social sciences. (You can view a list of fields here).
Fourteen researchers in the UC system received the highly cited designation in multiple categories, with UC San Diego’s Rob Knight, director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation and professor of pediatrics and computer science & engineering, receiving three designations — one of only 26 researchers around the world to do so. As a result, Knight was named a 2023 Citation Laureate, for computational and experimental research revealing the complex microbial ecosystems of the human body. Two UC Berkeley economists, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, were also recognized as Citation Laureates, for their research on income and wealth inequality and its consequences. All three have produced research papers cited over 2,000 times.
"We celebrate the Highly Cited Researchers whose contributions transform our world by helping to make it healthier, more sustainable and more secure,” said Bar Veinstein, president of Academia & Government at Clarivate, upon the list’s release. “Recognition of Highly Cited Researchers not only validates research excellence but also enhances reputation, fosters collaboration, and informs resource allocation, acting as a beacon for academic institutions and commercial organizations."
Methodology
The Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate is an annual recognition of influential scientists and social scientists worldwide who have made significant contributions to their fields. This year, 7,125 Highly Cited Researcher designations were issued to 6,849 individuals. The number of awards exceeds the number of unique individuals because some researchers are recognized in more than one field of research.
Clarivate’s selection process involves rigorous evaluation and curation of data from Highly Cited Papers in trusted science and social sciences journals, like Nature and Science, indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded™ and Social Sciences Citation Index™ during the 11-year period 2012 to 2022 and involves the review of 188,500 Highly Cited Papers across various fields. The methodology evolves every year to ensure the integrity of included research and researchers: you can learn more about their selection process here.
Related links:
UCLA: Over three dozen UCLA faculty listed among world’s most influential researchers
San Diego Union-Tribune: Sorry, Oxford and Yale. When it comes to influential scientists, you lag far behind UC San Diego, a relative newcomer
The University of California is once again the global leader in cited scholarship, according to Clarivate. (View or download the full-size infographic here).
