Professor Kristian Gleditsch is the only UK-based political scientist to be included in a prestigious international list of the most highly cited researchers in recent years.

The Highly Cited Researchers 2014 list produced by Thomson Reuters includes a list of academics who have published the greatest number of highly cited papers in 21 broad fields from 2002-2012. The highly cited papers have been determined by being ranked in the top 1% for their field and year of publication.

The report, entitled The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014, describes the 3,200 academics on the list as “influencing the future direction of their fields, and of the world….they are people who are on the cutting edge of their fields. They are performing and publishing work that their peers recognise as vital to the advancement of their science”.

Professor Gleditsch, who has been in the Department of Government since 2005, said: “Citations provide an important way to measure scholarly influence, as they reflect actual attention and interest in your work by other researchers and main peers, recorded in academic journals. I consider being included on the list a very important reflection of research influence and achievements, and I was very proud to learn that I had been included.”

An expert in peace and conflict and research methods, Professor Gleditsch has had a total of 2,049 citations recorded as of 12 July 2014, and 6 articles have each been cited more than 100 times.

Among his most cited papers was research relating to how international factors can influence democratisation and offered a fresh approach to the issue compared to many traditional approaches to democratisation which only look at factors within countries. Another highly cited paper argued that refugees from neighbouring states can increase the risk of civil war in the hosting states, and discussed ways in which the risks can be mitigated.

His most cited paper provided estimates for trade flows and GDP for many states that are often missing from conventional data sources and has been widely used as it is easy-to-use solution to an important problem, with interdisciplinary appeal.

With 352 citations to date, it is surprising that the article was published almost as an afterthought. “After developing the data I did not anticipate that it would generate so much interest.

“I have been very fortunate in being an early contributor to research areas that have subsequently become prominent, and to do research on topics that have turned out to had wide-ranging applications,” added Professor Gleditsch.

More information about Professor Gleditsch’s research is available from his home page and the citation data for his publication are available at his Research ID profile