A new global database of the top 100,000 most-cited scientists has placed UT Dallas School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS) Professor Alex Piquero among the elite in his field and across all disciplines.
The rankings, developed by a group of researchers at Stanford University, assessed scientists across the globe based on their research citations. Dr. Piquero is placed at No. 4 among the most cited criminologists and No. 5,845 among top scientists across all fields.
The group of researchers were led by Professor John P.A. Ioannides at Stanford University and published the paper on the new database in the journal PloS Biology. The paper outlines a new method to rank scientists by citations and other metrics, without common abuses such as self-citation or citation farms.
The top-cited scientists were selected from about 7 million around the world who have published at least five papers in their career. Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields. A composite score was awarded based on six different citation metrics. More weight was given to the total number of times a scientist was listed as the single, lead author, or last author of a cited research paper. Self-citations were excluded to provide a more accurate representation of scientific impact.
Piquero, a UT Dallas Ashbel Smith Professor of Criminology and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at EPPS, has published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of criminal careers, criminological theory and quantitative research methods.
On this recognition, Piquero credited his mentors, colleagues, family, wife (Dr. Nicole Piquero), and the dozens of students he has mentored and work with which, he states, “are the most rewarding aspects of life in academia.”
Piquero is also a member of two tasks forces in the City of Dallas. The first is his appointment to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s Task Force on Safe Communities and the second is his appointment to Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot’s Initiative on Gun Violence. As the sole researcher and academic on both policy efforts, it is a testimony to Piquero’s reputation in the DFW area and his commitment to evidence-based research and sound policymaking.
To view the full list of top 100,000 most-cited scientists, visit the PloS Biology article.
