{"doi":"10.3389/frma.2025.1685185","title":"Growth in representation of Saudi scientists among Stanford's top 2 percent most-cited (2019–2023)","abstract":"<jats:p>Global citation-based databases, such as Stanford University's Top 2% Scientists (SUD2%) database, offer powerful tools for tracking high-impact researchers. Despite Saudi Arabia's growing investment in scientific research, a longitudinal analysis of its presence in these elite citation rankings has been lacking. This study provides the first 5-year analysis (2019–2023) of Saudi-affiliated scientists listed in the SUD2% (single-year category), evaluating their growth in numbers, performance indicators, disciplinary distribution, and gender representation. Data were extracted from Elsevier's Mendeley-hosted SUD2% dataset. The key bibliometric metrics under analysis included the average composite citation score (C-score), citation rank, total citations, and h-index. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA on ranks was used to assess statistical differences between Saudi-affiliated and global scientists. Gender classification was performed using NamSor, based on validated confidence thresholds. The number of Saudi-affiliated scientists in the SUD2% nearly tripled from 556 in 2019 to 1,684 in 2023. Significant gains were also observed in average C-scores (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.003), citation ranks (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.002), total citations (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.001), and h-indices (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.025). Disciplinary analysis revealed continued dominance in clinical medicine, chemistry, and biomedical research. Gender analysis revealed male dominance (93.9%) over the 5-year period, although female representation increased from 5.0% in 2019 to 7.3% in 2023. Saudi Arabia's scientific community is making statistically significant progress in high-impact research, evidenced by increasing representation and improved citation metrics in global SUD2% rankings. While gaps remain—particularly in gender representation and individual citation ranks—trends point toward sustained momentum and broadening institutional participation in global research excellence.</jats:p>","journal":"Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics","year":2025,"id":592258,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1515514,"name":"Nouf Alturaiki","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1515516,"name":"Khaled Al-hadyan","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1515512,"name":"Luluah Altukhaifi","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Growth in representation of Saudi scientists among Stanford's top 2 percent most-cited (2019–2023)","abstract":"<jats:p>Global citation-based databases, such as Stanford University's Top 2% Scientists (SUD2%) database, offer powerful tools for tracking high-impact researchers. Despite Saudi Arabia's growing investment in scientific research, a longitudinal analysis of its presence in these elite citation rankings has been lacking. This study provides the first 5-year analysis (2019–2023) of Saudi-affiliated scientists listed in the SUD2% (single-year category), evaluating their growth in numbers, performance indicators, disciplinary distribution, and gender representation. Data were extracted from Elsevier's Mendeley-hosted SUD2% dataset. The key bibliometric metrics under analysis included the average composite citation score (C-score), citation rank, total citations, and h-index. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA on ranks was used to assess statistical differences between Saudi-affiliated and global scientists. Gender classification was performed using NamSor, based on validated confidence thresholds. The number of Saudi-affiliated scientists in the SUD2% nearly tripled from 556 in 2019 to 1,684 in 2023. Significant gains were also observed in average C-scores (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.003), citation ranks (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.002), total citations (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.001), and h-indices (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.025). Disciplinary analysis revealed continued dominance in clinical medicine, chemistry, and biomedical research. Gender analysis revealed male dominance (93.9%) over the 5-year period, although female representation increased from 5.0% in 2019 to 7.3% in 2023. Saudi Arabia's scientific community is making statistically significant progress in high-impact research, evidenced by increasing representation and improved citation metrics in global SUD2% rankings. While gaps remain—particularly in gender representation and individual citation ranks—trends point toward sustained momentum and broadening institutional participation in global research excellence.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"41112685","pmcid":"PMC12528147","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4414766434","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":0.0,"citation_percentile":0.20034719,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/research-metrics-and-analytics/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1685185/pdf","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/research-metrics-and-analytics/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1685185/pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frma.2025.1685185/full","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2025.1685185","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41112685","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/c4610b398c234e819b9fba3c13c3dfaa","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/12528147","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12528147","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12528147?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["scientometrics and bibliometrics research"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Citation","Dominance (genetics)","Citation analysis","Discipline","Representation (politics)","Elite","Inequality","Saudi Arabia","H-index","Bibliometric Analysis","Citation Metrics","Stanford's Top 2 Percent Most-cited Scientists"],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-26T12:54:40.199609Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}