The man with a multitude of highly cited publications
In a time of prevailing misinformation and declining trust, high quality research is more important than ever. Asbjørn Hróbjartsson is contributing to creating a solid foundation for all clinical research. His work helps to clarify which are the most suitable research methods and to assess the validity of research. For the fourth year in a row, the SDU professor’s excellent research has earned him a place on Clarivate’s list of the world’s most cited researchers.
Asbjørn is being featured as this month’s SDU profile because, for the fourth year in a row, he is among the one per thousand researchers in the world to be ranked on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list.
The list honours researchers who have published a large number of highly cited publications (top 1% in the Web of Science database) during the past 11 years.
The list serves as a benchmark for which researchers are most influential in their field – and in this respect, Asbjørn Hróbjartsson has firmly established his position in evidence-based medicine and clinical research methodology.
- This means that my research is being cited, read and used. Most people are happy to be recognised for their work. But otherwise, it doesn’t matter all that much. You’re making a cardinal error if you set your sights on citations instead of relevant clinical and scientific issues, he says.
Researching research
Through his research, Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, Head of Cochrane Denmark and Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Odense, is creating the best conditions for others to conduct clinical research of the highest quality.
- Many researchers choose to focus on a specific disease or prevention of it as their field of research, but I focus on the clinical research itself, its quality and its reporting. My work is concerned with developing tools to improve overall research quality and formulating reporting guidelines – such as guidelines for reporting randomised trials.
- We need clear concepts, tools and a professional perspective to clarify what characterises good clinical studies, he declares.
Together with his colleagues, Asbjørn analyses existing research and documents which methods work best. They also provide an overview of risks and bias – for the benefit of all clinical research. All in all, their work creates a research-related infrastructure that offers an overview of the field and provides methodological guidance.
Quality over quantity
Asbjørn Hróbjartsson has a Norwegian-Icelandic background and is a qualified doctor with practical experience in internal medicine. But early on in his career, his interest in research methods led him down a different path.
- I found it exciting and I was fascinated by a research field that had barely been explored back then. Around that time, Cochrane Denmark had just been established, and I became a part of that. I liked the idea of creating an empirically based overview and making relevant information available to everyone, including patients and relatives, via the Cochrane Library.
The Cochrane Library provides at-a-glance insight into specific treatments and their potential complications, and it also contains assessments of the quality of the underlying studies. It is available to everyone.
Read about the Cochrane Library at their website
Our new reality requires thoroughness
Today, research is facing a reality characterised by misinformation, lower levels of trust and an explosive increase in the number of research articles being published. This is why Asbjørn’s work is more important than ever.
- The relevance has only been increasing in recent years. This is evident from the fact that I’m on Clarivate’s list in the first place. Today’s challenges of misinformation and external actors who can influence neutral and honest research necessitate a focus on quality. There is a tendency for media coverage and external project funding to be prioritised over academic rigour and internal, long-time funding, he says.
He points out that basic research has always been central – such as when mathematical research laid the foundation for the development of computers 80–90 years ago, or when penicillin was discovered.
- I’d like to see more emphasis on research that is thorough and slow. Good research is about aiming high, reaching out to collaborate with the best people internationally, learning from your mistakes and daring to change course along the way. And daring to engage in high-risk projects that – if successful – can be innovative and revolutionary.
Clarivate
Clarivate is an international company that collects and analyses large amounts of research and patent data. Among other things, Clarivate generates rankings of journals and research impact (such as Journal Impact Factor) and provide tools that help universities, researchers and companies get an overview of trends, collaboration opportunities and results in the world of research.
Every year, Clarivate compiles a Highly Cited Researchers list, which identifies researchers whose work is cited to an exceptional extent by other researchers – and Asbjørn Hróbjartsson is on this list for the fourth year in a row.
Meet the researcher
Asbjørn Hróbjartsson is 60 years old and lives in Østerbro in Copenhagen with his partner. He has two grown-up children and enjoys running, playing chess and reading books. He also enjoys art and old cars.