Citation Laureates – Nobel Prize edition: Identifying the giants of research

Actors have their Oscars, and researchers have their Nobels. The Nobel prize has been the global pinnacle symbol of achievement in science since 1901 and economics since 1969. Each year since 2002, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)™ at Clarivate has identified a small group of Citation Laureates™: exceptionally highly cited scientists and economists whose influence is comparable to past and future Nobel prize winners. So far, 64 Citation Laureates have gone on to win a Nobel Prize, including five this year in 2021.

Joining us are David Pendlebury, Head of Research Analysis at the Institute for Scientific Information, and David Audretsch, Distinguished Professor and Ameritech Chair of Economic Development with the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, who has recently been named a Citation Laureate for 2021. Together we explore what it takes to win a Nobel Prize, and how Clarivate uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis to predict Nobel success, often years before a Nobel Prize is given. We discuss the fundamental role that citations play in identifying these giants of research, and how it feels to join the ranks of other ‘Nobel-class’ researchers in the Hall of Citation Laureates.