Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers List Faces Criticism and Changes

The Highly Cited Researchers list has updated its methodology for 2025 to exclude scientists associated with ethical breaches, such as excessive self-citation, leading to the re-inclusion of mathematicians after two years of exclusion due to suspicious citation patterns. The new rules aim to improve the list's integrity by removing papers linked to previous research misconduct, although this may inadvertently exclude some deserving scientists. The list now recognizes 6,868 researchers across various fields, with particular attention to addressing gaming of citation metrics, especially in mathematics.