Methodology

First, a dataset is created based on all Chinese mainland-affiliated researchers in Scopus who are currently affiliated with a Chinese institution. The current institution is determined by the institutional affiliation listed on the last publication captured by Scopus for each researcher, with the nationality of the researcher ignored.

The dataset is then refined to all publications between 1996 and 2021 by the relevant researchers where the researcher is listed as the first or corresponding author. The publications are then classified according to the categories published by the State Council Academic Degree Committee (SCADC) and the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. The number of researchers listed for each subject area is determined proportionally to ensure equal representation across all subject areas and this is used to set the total Citation Count threshold. Researchers considered highly cited are then determined according to the below criteria.

Published at least one output indexed in Scopus as the first or corresponding author.

The total Citation Count of the researchers considered publications meets the citation threshold for the respective subject area.

For listed researchers, the Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) of their considered publications is strictly higher than one or there is at least one (inclusive) publication in the top 1% citation percentile. 

For further information please visit Elsevier’s Highly Cited Chinese Researchers web page in Chinese: 中国高被引学者榜单