The World’s Top 2% Scientists, the list of the 230,000 researchers with the greatest global impact in different scientific disciplines, is now updated with data from the last year. Highly prestigious within the scientific world, this ranking takes into account the number of articles published, the position as an author and the citations received, differentiating 22 scientific fields and 174 specialties. It is prepared by professionals from the University of Stanford in collaboration with Elsevier, and thanks to data collected from Scopus, one of the largest academic databases and scientific literature in the world.

The list has become an important benchmark for assessing scientific excellence. Of the 230,000 scientists, 100,000 are the best scoring in all fields and the rest are in the top 2% of their specialty. A second classification is also drawn up where only the impact achieved during the last year is taken into account in order to give visibility to researchers with a shorter career. The goal, in short, is to provide a standardized and transparent metric of scientific influence, recognizing academic talent.

The talent of IDIBELL

This year, IDIBELL has once again appeared on the list with a total of 33 representatives in 3 fields and 17 specialties. In the first list, which takes into account the citations received throughout the scientific career, the following stand out in the Spanish and/or Catalan top 5:

• Xavier Bosch, fourth in Spain and third in Catalonia in Oncology and Carcinogenesis.
• Esteve Fernández, fourth in Spain and third in Catalonia in Public Health.
• Cosme Gay-Escoda, first in Catalonia in Dentistry.
• Jordi Carratalà, third in Catalonia in Microbiology.
• Eduard Valmaseda, third in Catalonia in Dentistry.
• Josep Maria Cruzado, fourth in Catalonia in Urology.

Also in notable positions for their careers are Drs Antonio Agudo, Ramón Alemany, Sebastiano Biondo, Gabriel Capellá, Oriol Casanovas, Francisco Ciruela, Isabel Fabregat, Francesc Formiga, Victor Moreno and Anna Sureda.

On the other hand, from the second list compiled according to the citations received only during 2024, the following stand out in the Spanish and/or Catalan top 5 of 2024:

• Laura Valle, second in Spain and Catalonia in Genetics and hereditary cancer.
• Raül Rigo, third in Spain and second in Catalonia in General Clinical Medicine.
• Sebastiano Biondo, fifth in Spain and fourth in Catalonia in Surgery.
• Esteve Fernández, fifth in Catalonia in Public Health.

The list of IDIBELL researchers who have achieved a good impact over the last year is completed by: Drs Antonio Agudo, Ramón Alemany, Xavier Bosch, Laia Bruni, Jordi Carratalà, Josep Comín, Marta Crous, Josep Mª Cruzado, Isabel Fabregat, Francesc Formiga, Carlota Gudiol, Susana Jiménez, Maria Molina, Victor Moreno, Cristina Muñoz, Xavier Pintó, Josep Maria Piulats,  Ramón Salazar, Anna Sureda, Eduard Valmaseda and Raúl Zamora. In addition, making their debut this year on the Elsevier list, Drs. Laia Alemany, Ernest Nadal, Javier Narváez and Antoni Rodríguez Fornells also join.

How to measure scientific impact through citations?

Citations of scientific articles are one of the most widely used tools to assess the scientific production and impact of a researcher. Over time, metrics such as the Hirsch index (h-index), which only takes into account the number of articles and citations, the Schreiber index (hm-index), which relativizes the h-index according to the total number of authors, or other measures that include the position of the author in their publications (first, last or only) have been developed in order to assess their involvement.

With the intention of focusing more on the impact than on the author’s productivity, the team led by John P.A. Ioannidis at Stanford University produces the World’s Top 2% Scientists according to a composite indicator called c-score, which takes into account all the values mentioned above. To note, Ioannidis himself recalls that “the presence or absence in this ranking is determined only by the c-score indicator  and that not being in it does not directly mean that a researcher does not do quality research”. Citation metrics have their limitations and must be interpreted critically and relatively.

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research centre created in 2004 and specialising in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from 73 research groups, publish more than 1,400 scientific articles a year. L’IDIBELL is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Health Institute, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

IDIBELL is a member of the Campus d’Excelencia Internacional of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the HR Excellence in Research program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Centre of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).