Stanford/Elsevier's Top 2% Scientist Rankings

Geography and Environment excels in latest rankings

Autumn 2023

LSE's Department of Geography and Environment delivers a standout performance in the Stanford/Elsevier list, highlighting the top 2% of the most cited scientists across the globe.

In the rankings based on citations for 2022, which tends to favour researchers with a significant current impact, a total of 12 departmental researchers earned a place on the list. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose secured the top global position in Urban and Regional Planning.

We also excelled in the broader LSE context, boasting a strong presence among the 124 LSE researchers featured in this ranking. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Eric Neumayer, and J. Vernon Henderson occupied three of the top four LSE positions, with Michael Storper among the top eight.

Other current staff prominently featured in this ranking include Neil Lee, Hyun Bang Shin, Riccardo Crescenzi, Stephen Gibbons, Gabriel Ahlfeldt, and Giles Atkinson.

Our performance is equally stellar when switching to the ranking that accounts for citations throughout a researcher's career. We captured four of the top seven LSE positions, with Eric Neumayer leading the charge among the 112 LSE academics featured in this list.

The exceptional showing by the Department of Geography and Environment underscores our commitment to groundbreaking research and our status as a global leader in the field. This remarkable achievement highlights the talent and dedication of our researchers and faculty.

About Stanford/Elsevier's Top 2% Scientist Rankings

Now in its sixth iteration, this prestigious list identifies the world's leading researchers, representing approximately 2% of all scientists worldwide. It encompasses standardised data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric indicators. 

Researchers are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields based on Science-Metrix's established classification, drawing from Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab.