Wang, Zhong Lin
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Kresse, Georg
Universität Wien, Austria
Mirjalili, Seyedali
Torrens University Australia, Australia
Bandura, Albert
Stanford University, United States of America
Grimme, Stefan
Universität Bonn, Germany
Bengio, Yoshua
Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, Canada
Ajzen, Icek
University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States of America
Ryan, Richard M.
Australian Catholic University, Australia
Girshick, Ross B.
Vercept, Country Not Listed
Altman, Douglas G.
University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division, United Kingdom
Top Scientific Fields by Global Research Presence (2026)
Explore the scientific disciplines leading the way in research impact worldwide. This list reveals where innovation thrives and which fields are producing the most influential scientists.
- Highlights fields with the greatest scientific activity
- Shows where scholars are shaping knowledge and discovery
- Reflects areas with sustained innovation and scholarly output
Leading Countries in Global Scientific Research Impact (2026)
Discover the countries making the greatest mark in global science through their top-ranked researchers. This list reveals national strengths, showcasing where academic excellence are most concentrated.
- Highlights national research strength and output
- Shows global distribution of leading scientific contributors
- Reflects country-level investment and emphasis in research
Understanding Scientific Impact
Explore the world's leading researchers through citation-based indicators, while understanding what these measures reveal and what they cannot.
What Do the Rankings Measure?
The World's Top 2% Scientists dataset identifies researchers using standardized citation indicators derived from Scopus. Its methodology was developed by John P. A. Ioannidis and colleagues.
The database distinguishes between single-year citation impact and career-long citation impact, offering different perspectives on researchers' citation records.
How Should Rankings Be Interpreted?
Citation-based rankings offer a bibliometric perspective rather than a comprehensive assessment of research quality, originality, or societal contribution.
Citation practices vary across disciplines. Ranking positions should therefore be interpreted alongside disciplinary context, methodological limitations, and other evidence of scholarly contribution.
Explore the Scientist Database
Browse researchers by impact period, country, and research discipline. Discover how scientific citation impact is represented across the world.
About the data. The rankings are based on Scopus-derived bibliometric indicators. Inclusion in one edition or category does not necessarily imply inclusion in another. Consult the original Elsevier Data Repository for methodology and documentation. This website provides an independent browsing interface and is not the original dataset publisher.
World's Top 2% Scientists — FAQ
Common questions about how the list is created, what it means, and how it is used.
It is a comprehensive database identifying scientists who are among the top 2% globally in terms of citation impact, based on a standardized composite score derived from their publication and citation records.
The list is compiled by a research team led by Professor John P.A. Ioannidis at Stanford University, using Scopus data and in collaboration with Elsevier.
The list is updated annually to reflect new data, including recent publications and citation counts.
No. While inclusion is based on quantitative metrics, it does not constitute a peer-reviewed judgment of research quality, nor does it imply endorsement by Stanford University or Elsevier.
The c-Score (Composite Score) is a bibliometric index developed to evaluate scientific influence. It combines multiple performance indicators, including total citations, h-index, co-authorship-adjusted metrics, authorship positions (e.g., single, first, last), and field-normalized citation impact into a single standardized metric. The calculation method differs slightly between single-year and career-long versions.
A composite score provides a more balanced assessment by integrating multiple dimensions of research performance, offering a broader view than any single metric can provide.
It is less common, but possible—particularly in the single-year rankings—if the researcher has demonstrated unusually high citation impact in a short time frame.
The full dataset is publicly available for academic and non-commercial use here.