More than three dozen current Old Dominion University experts can count themselves among the top 2% cited researchers worldwide in their field, according to a recently updated database from Stanford University. Selections are based on the top 100,000 scientists, classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields, and reflect more than 55 countries spanning the globe from Argentina to Yemen.
The list includes ODU experts from all seven academic departments in the College of Sciences, as well as several from the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, Strome College of Business, Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, and Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center.
“Citations are a very important metric for evaluating the impact of a person’s research,” said Gail Dodge, dean of the College of Sciences, noting that papers written by researchers must acknowledge the contributions of others' work that is relevant or foundational to that research. "If your work is highly cited it means that it has had a big impact.”
“We are proud of the fact that the College of Sciences is well represented on the list,” Dodge added. “All of our departments have outstanding researchers performing at a very high level.”
Authored by John Ioannidis of Stanford University, Kevin Boyack of SciTech Strategies and Jeroen Baas of Elsevier Research Intelligence, the Stanford top 2% uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through the International Center for the Study of Research (ICSR) Lab. Scopus is the largest multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and is published by Elsevier, a global leader in information and analytics. The ICSR Lab is a cloud-based computational platform that enables researchers to analyze large, structured datasets.
The list represents career-long citation impact as of the end of 2022, when the data is updated, and current-year impact representing citations during calendar year 2022. Thirty-eight current ODU researchers are listed for career-to-date citations, and many of those same names appear among the 32 experts whose work was highly cited in 2022.
The updated database also names more than a dozen researchers who are no longer with the University.
“It’s gratifying to know that my work has had an impact and is being recognized,” said David Swain, ODU professor of exercise science, whose name appears in both career and annual lists.
Swain’s research focuses on cardiovascular and metabolic responses to exercise, and his work has been cited in scientific journals more than 18,000 times, according to his online biography. He is set to retire at the end of fall semester after a 30-year career at ODU.
“Citations aren’t the only measure of a researcher’s success, but they are one very useful measure that has the advantage of being entirely objective,” said Swain, who has appeared on the Stanford top 2% list since 2020.
Yuping Liu-Thompkins, Strome College of Business professor of marketing and director of the Loyalty Science Lab, was named to the Stanford top 2% for the first time for her single-year impact. She called research citations “a virtuous cycle” – one that not only extends the reach of someone’s work, but also inspires the research of others, sometimes across fields of study.
“I have seen marketing researchers’ work, including mine, be cited frequently outside of the marketing discipline, such as computer science, tourism and healthcare,” said Liu-Thompkins, who has been at ODU since 2002 and conducts research on customer loyalty and digital marketing. “These citations indicate that we are not just applying findings from other disciplines, but we are contributing impactful new knowledge as well.”
Dodge and Swain said ODU’s strong representation on Stanford's top 2% is a testament to the University’s broad research strength across disciplines, and it reinforces the R1 designation ODU attained two years ago, according to Liu-Thompkins.
“This is quite an accolade for ODU,” Swain said. “Our University is doing very well at publishing reputable, impactful research.”
Stanford top 2% October 2023, Current Faculty
(for year ending 2022)
Career List
(* also named to single-year list)
- *Balitsky, Ian - Professor, Physics
- Baysal, Oktay, - Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Bayse, Craig A. - Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- *Beebe, Stephen J. - Professor, Center for Bioelectrics
- *Bernath, Peter - Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Burdige, David J.- Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- Chrisochoides, Nikos - Professor, Computer Science
- *Cutter, Gregory A. - Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- Demuren, Ayodeji - Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- *Ezer, Tal - Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- *Gurevich, Alex – Professor, Physics
- Harvey, H. Rodger – Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- *Hatcher, Patrick G. – Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- *Hu, Fang Q. – Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
- Ibrahim, Soad R. - Senior Lecturer, Computer Science
- *Iftekharuddin, Khan M. – Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Klinck, John – Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- *Kong, M.G. – Professor, Center for Bioelectrics
- *Kumar, Sandeep – Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- *Kuzlu, Murat - Associate Professor, Engineering and Technology
- *Laroussi, Mounir – Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- *Lee, James Weifu – Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Li, Ling Xia – Professor, Information Technology and Decision Sciences
- *Luo, Li-Shi – Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
- *Mao, Jingdong - Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Mulholland, Margaret R. – Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- *Ng, Man Wo – Professor, Information Technology and Decision Sciences
- Noell, George – Professor, Psychology
- *Noffke, Nora – Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
- *Olariu, Stephan – Professor, Computer Science
- *Pakhomov, Andrei G. - Professor, Center for Bioelectrics
- *Radyushkin, Anatoly – Professor, Physics
- *Schiavilla, Rocco - Professor, Physics
- *Swain, David P. – Professor, Human Movement Sciences
- Vernier, P. Thomas - Research Professor, Center for Bioelectrics
- Wriggers, Willy – Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Xin, Chunsheng – Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- *Zimmerman, Richard C. – Professor, Ocean and Earth Sciences
Single-Year List (and not already listed above)
- Crompton, Helen – Professor, STEM Education and Professional Studies
- Haegele, Justin A. – Professor, Human Movement Sciences
- Keating, Charles B. – Professor, Engineering Management and Systems Engineering
- Liu-Thompkins, Yuping – Professor, Marketing
- Paulson, James F. – Associate Professor, Psychology
- Shetty, Sachin – Professor, Virginia Modeling and Simulation Center (VMASC)