By Alicia Gregory 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 11, 2023) — The University of Kentucky is well-represented on a list of the most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University in a partnership with Elsevier, 119 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing their work in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal is a key step in sharing research findings and new discoveries. 

“Being cited is one sign that your work matters to the research community,” said Lisa Cassis, Ph.D., UK vice president for research. “We acknowledge that citation metrics can have issues including gender bias and underrepresentation of community-focused and non-STEM research — the same issues with which the research community at-large is grappling. The University of Kentucky is dedicated to an inclusive culture of research across all spectrums of inquiry, and we value the contributions of all faculty, staff and student researchers. UK’s world-recognized research is impacting the community and producing innovations that make Kentucky and the world healthier, wealthier and wiser. We congratulate these outstanding individuals for this citation recognition.”

The database, updated October 2023 and available through the Elsevier Data Repository, was compiled by Stanford faculty member John P.A. Ioannidis. Database inclusion means the individual met a variety of metrics that place them among the top 2% of researchers based on citations.

In addition to appearing on Elsevier’s list, one UK faculty member — Sherali Zeadally, Ph.D., University of Kentucky Alumni Association Endowed Professor in the College of Communication and Information's School of Information Science and University Research Professor — also appeared on Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list, which identifies scholars whose work has been cited most often in papers over the past decade. Those chosen for the 2023 list authored studies that rank in the top 1% in the number of scholarly citations worldwide within their disciplines. Zeadally has appeared on Clarivate’s list for four consecutive years.

The following UK researchers (current, in alphabetical order) appeared on Elsevier’s top 2% of world’s most-cited researchers list:

• Andrew Bernard, M.D., College of Medicine
• Erhard Bieberich, M.D., College of Medicine
• Emma Birks, M.D., College of Medicine
• Stephen Borgatti, Ph.D., Gatton College of Business and Economics
• Carl Bradley, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Daniel Brass, Ph.D., Gatton College of Business and Economics
• Rudolph Buchheit, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Lisa Cassis, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Zhi Chen, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Hailong Chen, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Misook Chung, Ph.D., College of Nursing
• Ann Coker, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Alan Daugherty, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Daniel Davenport, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Florin Despa, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Robert Dickson, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Robert DiPaola, M.D., College of Medicine
• Esther Dupont-Versteegden, Ph.D., College of Health Sciences
• Anatoly Dymarsky, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Jean Edward, Ph.D., College of Nursing
• Rachel Farr, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Charles Fox, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Christopher Fry, Ph.D., College of Health Sciences
• Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova, Ph.D., College of Pharmacy
• Roberto Gedaly, M.D., College of Medicine
• John Gensel, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Brian Gold, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Larry Goldstein, M.D., College of Medicine
• Phillip Gribble, Ph.D., College of Health Sciences
• Marcelo Guzman, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• David Harmon, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• James Hartsfield, D.M.D., College of Medicine
• Eugene Hessel, M.D., College of Medicine
• Rick Honaker, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• James Hower, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• William Inabnet, M.D., College of Medicine
• Dan Ionel, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Mary Ireland, M.D., College of Medicine
• Gregory Jicha, M.D., College of Medicine
• Xu Jin, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Pradeep Kachroo, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Haluk Karaca, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Philip Kern, M.D., College of Medicine
• Sujin Kim, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Marc Kiviniemi, Ph.D., College of Public Health
• Hannah Knudsen, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Richard Kryscio, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Andrew Lane, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Terry Lennie, Ph.D., College of Nursing
• Scott Lephart, Ph.D., College of Health Sciences
• Xin Liang, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Yuan Liao, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Xiaoqi Liu, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Mark Lovell, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Hong Lu, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Xin Ma, Ph.D., College of Education
• Hartmut Malluche, M.D., College of Medicine
• David Mannino, M.D., College of Medicine
• Michelle Martel, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Alexandre Martin, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• John McCarthy, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Craig Miller, D.M.D., College of Dentistry
• Luke Moe, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Edward Morris, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Debra Moser, Ph.D., College of Nursing
• Michael Murphy, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Peter Nagy, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Peter Nelson, M.D., College of Medicine
• Mark Newman, M.D., College of Medicine
• Duc Nguyen, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Martin Nielsen, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Brian Noehren, Ph.D., College of Health Sciences
• Jeffrey Okeson, D.M.D., College of Dentistry
• Daniel Pack, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Subba Palli, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Sean Parkin, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Thomas Prisinzano, Ph.D., College of Pharmacy
• Alexander Rabchevsky, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Brady Reynolds, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• John Roth, M.D., College of Medicine
• Christopher Schardl, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Theodore Schatzki, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Dusan Sekulic, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Qing Shao, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Zhongwei Shen, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Jian Shi, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Gregory Smith, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Charles Smith, M.D., College of Medicine
• Stefan Stamm, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Mark Suckow, D.V.M., Pigman College of Engineering
• Surendranath Suman, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Yasuhiro Suzuki, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Hollie Swanson, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Jon Thorson, Ph.D., College of Pharmacy
• Clayton Thyne, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Mats Troedsson, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Joseph Van Sickels, D.D.S., College of Dentistry
• Alexander Vazsonyi, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• John Villano, M.D., College of Medicine
• George Wagner, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Sharon Walsh, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Peng Wang, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Thomas Widiger, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Youling Xiong, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Ren Xu, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Fuqian Yang, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Guoqiang Yu, Ph.D., Pigman College of Engineering
• Ling Yuan, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Sherali Zeadally, Ph.D., College of Communication and Information
• Thomas Zentall, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences
• Binhua Zhou, Ph.D., College of Medicine
• Xuguo Zhou, Ph.D., Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
• Matthew Zook, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences

About Elsevier’s list
This publicly available database of top-cited scientists provides standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions and a composite indicator (c-score). Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. Field- and subfield-specific percentiles are also provided for all scientists with at least five papers. The selection is based on the top 100,000 scientists by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above in the sub-field. Calculations were performed using all Scopus author profiles as of Oct. 1, 2023. Learn more.

About Clarivate’s list
Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers program identifies individuals who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. The 2023 list contains 7,125 Highly Cited Researchers in total: 3,793 Highly Cited Researchers in 20 fields of the sciences and social sciences and 3,332 individuals identified as having exceptional performance across several fields. Learn more.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

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