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, 140 current UK scientists and scholars appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

The data reported in this article is a snapshot of recent productivity. It includes only citations received during the calendar year 2022, hence it may not reflect career publications. Please see “About Elsevier’s list” below for more information.

Citations are one measure of the impact of academic research. For researchers, publishing 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, PhD, 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 for 2022.

In addition to appearing on Elsevier’s list for 2022 citations, one UK faculty member — Sherali Zeadally, PhD, 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: