Stanford-Elsevier list identifies top 2% scientists in clinical medicine

Clinical medicine has emerged as the largest field in the 2026 Stanford-Elsevier list of the top 2% most-cited scientists. Out of 249,310 listed authors, 76,155, or approximately 31%, identify clinical medicine as their primary field, a figure that exceeds the combined totals of the next three largest fields.

The data is derived from John Ioannidis’s science-wide author database, developed in collaboration with Elsevier using Scopus data. Authors are included in the ranking if they place within the top 100,000 by a composite citation score or within the top 2% of their specific subfield. The 2026 single-year table specifically measures citations received during 2025.

Preliminary country-based analysis of the clinical medicine subset shows the United States leading with 28,458 authors, followed by the United Kingdom with 6,303, China with 3,924, Germany with 3,770, and Italy with 3,710.