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Highly cited researchers: a moving target

Author

Listed:
  • Domingo Docampo

    (Universidade de Vigo)

  • Lawrence Cram

    (Australian National University
    Charles Darwin University)

Abstract

Highly cited researchers are a category of researchers defined by scientometric rules relating to counts of citations to their scholarly articles. The designation often refers to researchers identified according to scientometric rules specified by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and its commercial affiliates; we denote these categories as HCR. The 2001 ISI rules (HRC.1) used membership thresholds derived from the total citation counts to an author’s corpus in a specified research field and time window. The modified 2013 rules also include counts of individual highly cited publications (HCR.2), while the foreshadowed 2018 rules introduce the concept of cross-field influence (HCR.3). The HCR category is a popular, albeit flawed, indicator of outstanding individual researchers. HCR membership has been used as the basis for many studies of research excellence, including the use of an institution’s HCR count as an indicator in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The paper traces the development of the HCR category and its use by ARWU, providing insights into the social construction of research indicators and their potential to change research practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Domingo Docampo & Lawrence Cram, 2019. "Highly cited researchers: a moving target," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(3), pages 1011-1025, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:118:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-018-2993-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-018-2993-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Adeline Dugerdil & Lara Sponagel & Awa Babington-Ashaye & Antoine Flahault, 2022. "International University Ranking Systems and Their Relevance for the Medical and Health Sciences – A Scoping Review," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(5), pages 102-102, October.
    2. Lauranne Chaignon & Domingo Docampo & Daniel Egret, 2023. "In search of a scientific elite: highly cited researchers (HCR) in France," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(10), pages 5801-5827, October.
    3. Xinyi Chen, 2023. "Does cross-field influence regional and field-specific distributions of highly cited researchers?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(1), pages 825-840, January.
    4. Ajitha Kumari Vijayappan Nair Biju & Ann Susan Thomas & J Thasneem, 2024. "Examining the research taxonomy of artificial intelligence, deep learning & machine learning in the financial sphere—a bibliometric analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 849-878, February.
    5. Ahmad Firdaus & Mohd Faizal Ab Razak & Ali Feizollah & Ibrahim Abaker Targio Hashem & Mohamad Hazim & Nor Badrul Anuar, 2019. "The rise of “blockchain”: bibliometric analysis of blockchain study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1289-1331, September.

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