Online data collection paradigms/platforms act as a great source of data to analyse and interpret this data for better understanding, implementation, results and recognition in general and in research activities in particular. Clarivate Plc released its list of Highly Cited Researchers 2020that identifies researchers who “demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade.” Highly citedpapers aredefinedas those that rank in thetop1% by citations for field and publication year. Researcherswho, within an ESI-definedfield, publishhighly citedpapers are judged to be influential, so the production of multipletop 1% papers isinterpreted as a mark of exceptional impact.Over 2,800,000 researchers use Publons to track their publications, Web of Sciencecitations, peer reviews, and journal affiliations in one place.

The list of Highly Cited Researchers produced by Clarivate^TM for 2020 identifies scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated significant and broad influence through publication of multiple highly-cited papers during the last decade.Researchers are selected for their exceptional performance in one or more of 21 fields (those used in Essential Science Indicators™ (ESI)) or across several fields - demonstrated by production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year.

 

Methodology

-Approximately 6,400 researchers are named Highly Cited Researchers in 2020—some 3,900 in specific fields and about 2,500 for cross-field performance. The recognition of researchers with substantial influence in several fields keeps the Highly Cited Researcher list contemporary and relevant.

-The number of researchers selected in each field is based on the square root of the population of authors listed on the field’s highly cited papers. The number of those with cross-field influence is determined by finding those who have influence equivalent to those identified in the 21 fields.

-For the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers analysis, the papers surveyed were the most recent papers available—those published and cited during 2009-2019 and which then ranked in the top 1% by citations for their ESI field and year (the definition of a highly cited paper).

-The threshold number of highly cited papers for selection differs by field, with Clinical Medicine requiring the most and Economics & Business the least.

-A second criterion for selection is a citation count to highly cited papers that ranks a researcher in the top 1% by citations in an ESI field for the period surveyed.

-To identify researchers with cross-field influence, highly cited paper and citation counts are normalized through fractionating according to the thresholds required for each field (thus, each Clinical Medicine paper has a smaller unit fraction than one in Economics & Business). Citation counts are fractionated in a similar manner. If the sum of the publication counts and the sum of the citation counts for a researcher equals 1.0 or more, the individual exhibits influence equivalent to a researcher selected in one or more ESI defined fields and is therefore selected as a Highly Cited Researcher for exceptional cross-field performance.

Attention:

-There is no unique or universally agreed concept of what constitutes exceptional research performance and elite status in the sciences and social sciences. Consequently, no quantitative indicators will point to a list that satisfies all expectations or requirements. Moreover, a different basis or formula for selection could generate a different—though likely overlapping—list of names. Thus, the absence of a name on our list cannot be interpreted as inferior performance or stature in comparison to those selected this year.

-Although this list is updated and refreshed each year, a Highly Cited Researcher is always a Highly Cited Researcher—whether their name was included in 2014 or 2019.

-All Highly Cited Researcher records are reviewed. Factors such as retractions, misconduct, and extreme self-citation—all of which would detract from true community-wide research influence—may lead to an author being excluded or suppressed from the list.

 

Some interesting findings

-The United States continues to headline an annual list of influential science researchers with 2,650 authors, representing 41.5% of the list.

-In the United States, the 2020 list shows that Harvard University is home to 188 researchers and is the institution with the highest concentration of highly cited researchers in the world.

-Neighbouring Broad Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technologyalso rank high on the list with 61 and 53 highly respected researchers, respectively.

--The role of the U.S. has slipped since Clarivate last compiled its list in 2019. In the previous list, the United States claimed a 44% share of the role.

-The 2020 list includes 6,167 researchers from 60 different countries.

-The list includes 26 Nobel laureates, including three announced this year – CRISPR pioneers Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer A. Doudna and Reinhard Genzel.

-China is home to 770 highly cited researchers, a 12.1% share of the list and the numbers are up from 636 or 10.2% in 2019. China’s rank was boosted by the ongoing work performed at Tsinghua University in Beijing, as well as Peking and Zhejiang Universities.

-There are 514 recognized researchers in the United Kingdom, followed by 345 in Germany, 181 in the Netherlands, 160 in France, 154 in Switzerland and 103 in Spain.

-Clarivate analysis shows the U.S. and China are driving the primary contribution to global scientific papers and advancements in the field but the USA still 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.

 

Category: Physics

About 179 scientists have found their place in the list of highly cited researchers in Physics category and top ten are:

Sl.N	Name	Primary Affiliation
	Chihaya Adachi	Kyushu University, Japan
	NailAkhmediev	Australian National University, Australia
	JasonAlicea	University of California Irvine, United States
	NasserAlidoust	Rigetti Computing, United States
	AndreaAlu	City University of New York (CUNY) Adv. Sci. Res.Center, USA
	James G.Analytis	University of California Berkeley, United States
	YoichiAndo	University of Cologne, Germany
	MarkusAspelmeyer	University of Vienna, Austria
	David D.Awschalom	University of Chicago, United States
	LeonBalents	University of California Santa Barbara, United States

The citations and publication details of top two Physicists in detail are as:

 

Indian scientists who have made to the list of highest cited researcher in 2020:

 

Sl. No.	Name	Category	Primary Affiliation	Secondary Affiliation
	Rahul Banerjee	Chemistry	Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) - Kolkata, India
	Vinod Kumar Gupta	Chemistry	King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia	Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Roorkee, India
	Neeraj Kumar	Computer Science	King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia	Thapar University, India
	Imran Ali	Cross-Field	JamiaMilliaIslamia Central University, India	Taibah University, Saudi Arabia
	Anuradha Chowdhary	Cross-Field	University of Delhi, India	Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, India
	Pooran Mal Gaur	Cross-Field	International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT), India
	Subash Chandra	Cross-Field	Banaras Hindu University, India
	Devendra Kumar	Cross-Field	University of Rajasthan, India
	Dinesh Mihan	Cross-Field	Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
	Ashok Pandey	Cross-Field	Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) - India, India
	R. Rakkiyappan	Cross-Field	Bharathiar University, India
	C. N. R. Rao	Cross-Field	Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, India
	Gaurav Sharma	Cross-Field	King Saud University, Saudi Arabia	Shoolini University, India
	JagdevSingh	Cross-Field	King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia	JECRC University, India
	A. Parasuraman	Economics and Business	Vijaybhoomi University, India	University of Miami, United States
	Vineet Veer Tyagi	Engineering	King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia	Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, India
	RathinasamySakthivel	Mathematics	Bharathiar University, India
	Nafees A. Khan	Plant and Animal Science	Aligarh Muslim University, India
	Rajeev K. Varshney	Plant and Animal Science	International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT), India	University of Western Australia, Australia

 

Source:recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2020