2023 Milestone: Climbing the Academic Ladder to the World's Top 2% Scientists

I am incredibly excited to share some extraordinary news with all of you today. Just this October, I had the distinct honor of being included in the 2023 World's Top 2% Scientists database, developed by researchers at Stanford University and published through Elsevier.

To be honest, this was not something I had anticipated when I started my research journey. I knew that I enjoyed conducting research, but I certainly did not imagine that, just a few years later, I would find my name in an international database recognizing researchers for their citation impact.

And the interesting part? Research is not even part of my formal job description.

The Journey to the Top 2%

When I started my research journey, I had no idea where it would take me. Unlike many academics whose positions explicitly require them to conduct research and publish scholarly articles, my professional responsibilities have largely centered on educational innovation, technology, and institutional development.

Research, however, has always been something I genuinely enjoy. I sometimes humorously say that my idea of relaxation involves diving into research. While others might spend their weekends watching movies or going on vacation, I occasionally find myself reading journal articles, exploring new research questions, or revising a manuscript that I had promised myself I would not touch until Monday.

I suppose everyone has a different definition of relaxation. Mine just happens to involve a considerable number of references.

What began as an intellectual interest gradually became an important part of my professional life. I became increasingly interested in understanding how technology could improve educational experiences, how emerging innovations might influence teaching and learning, and how empirical research could help us make more informed decisions.

Along the way, I discovered that conducting research involves considerably more than having an interesting idea. There are research designs to refine, instruments to develop, data to analyze, and findings to interpret. And, of course, there is the rather unpredictable experience of submitting a manuscript to a journal.

Sometimes a paper gets accepted. Sometimes it comes back with major revisions. And sometimes Reviewer 2 makes you reconsider whether your research question was worth asking in the first place.

Nevertheless, I kept going, partly because I enjoyed the process and partly because every completed study seemed to raise another question worth investigating.

Fast forward a few years, and I now find myself included in the World's Top 2% Scientists database, which uses standardized citation indicators derived from Scopus data to identify researchers with substantial scholarly citation impact.

For someone who began conducting research out of personal interest rather than professional obligation, this recognition feels particularly meaningful.

Six Years of Research, One Unexpected Recognition

What makes this milestone especially memorable is that I have only been actively involved in research for approximately six years.

In the 2023 single-year scientific impact category, I ranked 24th among 50 researchers in my Philippine comparison group and 80,842nd globally.

When I first saw those numbers, I had to look at them more than once. Not because I was particularly concerned about the ranking itself, but because I found it remarkable that something I had pursued largely out of curiosity had developed into a body of published work receiving attention from other researchers.

Of course, being included in a citation-based database does not automatically make someone a better scientist than those who are not listed. Research quality is far more complicated than any single numerical indicator can capture. Still, I think it is reasonable to appreciate a milestone while recognizing what it does and does not measure.

And with only six years of research experience behind me, I am certainly happy to have reached this point.

The Journey So Far

Since this is my first inclusion, I thought I would keep a record of the numbers. Whether there will be another entry next year remains to be seen, but at least I now have a starting point. Besides, I am a researcher. Keeping track of data is practically a reflex.

Click the year heading to explore my researcher profile and citation indicators for the 2023 edition. The national rank refers to the Philippine comparison group.

My composite citation score, or c-score, was 2.61. Unlike a simple citation count, the c-score combines several standardized citation indicators, including measures that consider authorship position and the broader citation record of a researcher.

These indicators provide a useful perspective on scholarly citation impact, although they cannot fully explain the significance of a researcher's contributions. After all, being cited frequently and making a meaningful difference are not necessarily the same thing.

For now, I am simply pleased to have a starting point. I have no idea whether these numbers will increase, decrease, or remain relatively unchanged in future editions. That uncertainty is part of what makes the recognition interesting.

The Significance of This Achievement

Now, you might be wondering why this achievement is so significant to me. After all, it is another academic ranking, and academia certainly has no shortage of those.

For me, it is more than just a plaque on the wall or another line on my curriculum vitae. It represents the countless hours spent developing research ideas, questioning assumptions, analyzing findings, and trying to contribute something meaningful to the literature.

It also reminds me of something I have gradually learned through research: the influence of a study does not necessarily end when the article is published.

As authors, we spend considerable time preparing manuscripts for publication. We carefully select our research questions, refine our methodology, interpret the results, and respond to reviewers. Once the article is published, however, much of what happens next is beyond our control.

Other researchers may discover it, question its findings, build upon its arguments, or use it to inform their own investigations. Sometimes, the work we consider relatively modest becomes useful to someone studying a problem we had never anticipated.

That is one of the things I appreciate most about scholarly publishing. Research allows ideas to travel beyond the institutions, classrooms, and communities where they originated.

At the same time, I recognize that citations are imperfect indicators of scholarly contribution. A highly cited study is not necessarily methodologically stronger than a less frequently cited one, and valuable research does not always receive widespread academic attention.

This distinction is particularly important in education and information technology, where the value of research may also be reflected in improved teaching practices, institutional decisions, or technological innovations that benefit learners.

Still, knowing that my published work has become part of other researchers' scholarly conversations is something I genuinely appreciate.

Research Beyond the Job Description

Perhaps the most personally meaningful aspect of this recognition is that conducting research has never been something I pursued simply because my position required it.

As the director of the Educational Innovation and Technology Hub, much of my professional attention is devoted to developing initiatives, supporting institutional innovation, and exploring how technology can improve educational experiences. These responsibilities can be demanding, particularly when several projects require attention at the same time.

Finding time for research alongside these commitments is not always easy. There are days when administrative responsibilities take priority, and there are evenings when I return to a manuscript only after completing everything else on my schedule.

But I have never considered research entirely separate from my professional responsibilities. In many ways, the two complement each other.

My work in educational innovation exposes me to practical questions that deserve systematic investigation. Research, in turn, allows me to examine those questions more critically and consider whether the approaches we adopt are supported by evidence.

That relationship has made research more meaningful to me. I am not interested in publishing simply for the sake of increasing my publication count. I am interested in understanding problems, examining possible solutions, and contributing knowledge that others may find useful.

Of course, having another publication accepted is always a pleasant bonus. I am not going to pretend otherwise.

What's Next?

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, juggling multiple ongoing projects in my capacity as the director of the Educational Innovation and Technology Hub, my dedication to advancing knowledge and innovation in education and technology remains steadfast.

Despite the demands of my role, I see each challenge as an opportunity to learn something new. There are still many questions I want to investigate, ideas I want to explore, and research projects I hope to complete.

I am also grateful to the colleagues and collaborators who have been part of my research journey. Although academic recognition is often presented under an individual's name, the process of producing meaningful research frequently involves the contributions of many people.

And, of course, I appreciate the researchers who have read, engaged with, and cited my published work. It is encouraging to know that some of the questions I have explored have also been relevant to others.

Will I make the list again next year? I genuinely do not know. Research impact is not something we can predict with certainty, and I certainly do not intend to organize my research agenda around chasing a particular ranking.

For now, I am happy to celebrate this milestone, appreciate the journey that brought me here, and continue doing the work I enjoy.

After all, research was never part of my job description. It was simply something I loved doing.

And perhaps that is what makes this recognition particularly rewarding. I started doing research because I was curious about what I might discover. I never imagined that, somewhere along the way, the academic world might discover my research too.