Updated database compares researchers across disciplines

By Mikkel Linnemann Johansson, miklj@sdu.dk, 12/2/2020

The research article  A standardized citation metrics author database annotated for scientific field describes how standardized information on citations, h-index, coauthorship-adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions, and a composite indicator have created a database of the world's 100,000 top researchers rankings across disciplines.

Now the database has been updated and several researchers from SDU Science are represented among the world's top. Among others, three from the faculty are placed amongst the top 10,000 researchers.

See the full list here.

BMB’s professor Ole N. Jensen, who is number 8727 on the list, describes it as very satisfying to see his name amongst the top 10,000 researchers in the world.

- This means that my research over the past 30 years has influenced other researchers in Denmark and around the world, and that they therefore cite my work, he says.

Still, he cautions that one should be careful about blindly trusting this type of rankings.

As the creators of the database, Jeroen Baas, Richard Klavans, Kevin Boyack and John Ioannidis, also say, citation metrics are both widely used and misused.

Therefore, the authors of the database have also been particularly careful with the processing and use of data.

- The special thing about this ranking is that a lot has been done to filter data for self-citations, and they have corrected for the distribution of the different subject areas. The ranking is thus as objective as possible, as it indicates how many collegial citations a researcher has received on his published articles.

According to SDU's Library Director Bertil F. Dorch, these kinds of considerations are important to keep in mind when looking at rankings with researchers.

- For example, there may be subject areas or researchers who publish literature that is only to a small extent indexed in the databases that count citations. There may also be subject areas that have different traditions regarding how and what to quote. This means that even if data is available, it is notoriously difficult to compare across disciplines, Bertil F. Dorch explains.

That being said, he still believes that one can easily use quantitative rankings of citations etc. to form an impression that can be used as a basis for further investigation and inclusion of other relevant parameters and analyzes.

At the same time, Bertil F. Dorch finds it interesting that there are researchers from SDU on this list who rank well when compared with colleagues from other institutions with whom they would normally compare themselves.

- However, this is hardly surprising. We know very well that there are researchers and subject areas at SDU that are absolutely world-class when compared with similar areas at other universities, says Bertil F. Dorch.

Ole N. Jensen is also pleased that the database documents how both Danish research and research from SDU is at the forefront at the highest international level.

- But the ranking does not reveal the complete picture, he says.

- A good example is Jens Christian Skou (1918-2018), who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1997. He ranks "only" as number 55,648 on this list, but he is one of the few researchers who have received the highest award in science. He received the Nobel Prize approx. 40 years after his discovery of the vital protein, the sodium-potassium pump, which maintains the salt balance in our cells. It was, of course, a different time with fewer publications and no computers, but this example shows that originality, patience and professional skill are the most important things for a researcher, Ole N. Jensen concludes.