McGill celebrates investigators named to Highly Cited Researchers 2020 List

McGill’s number of highly cited researchers grows, while Canada maintains rank of sixth among all nations
Top row (l to r): Elena Bennett, Alan Evans, Andrew Gonzalez and Andrew P. Hendry. Middle row (l to r): Vicky Kaspi, Ronald Postuma, Michael Meaney, Anthony Ricciardi and Nahum Sonenberg. Bottom row (l to r): Nathan Spreng, Jennifer Sunday, Gustavo Turecki and Jianguo Xia.

The annual Highly Cited Researchers list from Clarivate Analytics was released today and 13 of McGill’s most influential academics have made the cut. A 14th researcher, Amit Bar-Or, also made the list. although he is no longer with McGill. They join 6,167 researchers from more than 60 countries and regions who have demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are identified from the publications that rank in the top 1 per cent by citations – work that is frequently referenced by other researchers – for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index.

By recognizing researchers with high citation impact – rankings based on millions of citations – the list celebrates both the reach and the influence of international research in 21 fields of study. Seven among the McGill researchers named this year are recognized for their substantial influence in more than one of these fields (cross-field). Since 2014, McGill’s researchers have consistently made the Highly Cited Researchers list. Nine of the researchers appearing on the 2020 list are there for a second year in row. Prof. Andrew Hendry (Redpath Museum and Department of Biology) has been recognized multiple times and Dr. Alan Evans (Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery) has appeared on the Clarivate list annually since 2014.

“We celebrate the achievements of the McGillians who are among the most highly cited researchers in 2020,” said Prof. Martha Crago, Vice-Principal, Research & Innovation. “That their work is shared so widely is tangible evidence of McGill’s impact across disciplines and over time, while also demonstrating the international importance of innovation in research.”

Canada retained its sixth-place spot among nations, with 195 authors representing 3.1 per cent of the researchers on the list. Whilst the United States continues to dominate the list as the home to the highest number of Highly Cited Researchers, with 2,650 authors, representing 41.5 per cent of the researchers on the list, its relative share of the list continues to decrease (44 per cent in 2019). Mainland China’s place on the list continues to surge – it is now the home to 770 (12.1 per cent or 1:8) researchers on our list – up from 636 or 10.2 per cent in 2019.

McGill’s HCRs, and their fields of study, are:

* No longer with McGill (The Neuro) but the window of citations reviewed for this program spans a decade of work.

The full 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list and executive summary can be found online here