A scientist's position within the ranking is determined by their Discipline H-index (D-index), a citation metric designed to reflect scholarly influence strictly within a specified discipline. The D-index accounts solely for papers and citation metrics relevant to the examined field, allowing for a focused and discipline-specific assessment of research excellence.
Scope of Research and Eligibility Criteria
The ranking effort examined a total of 279,971 scientist profiles aggregated from diverse bibliometric sources spanning all academic disciplines, with a dedicated focus on identifying 1,000 leading scientists specifically within Economics and Finance. To qualify for inclusion in the ranking, a researcher’s D-index was required to be at least 30, ensuring only highly impactful scholars are recognized. Additionally, a majority of the researcher’s tier publications must be situated in the Economics and Finance domain, affirming subject-matter expertise.
A researcher’s awards and notable achievements in Economics and Finance were also considered to complement the bibliometric evaluation, providing a holistic measure of scholarly distinction within the discipline. The threshold for the D-index is dynamically set as increments of 10 relative to the estimated total number of active scholars in each discipline. This calibrated approach guarantees that the ranking consistently incorporates the top 1% of leading experts.
Furthermore, a proximity criterion ensures methodological rigor, requiring that the difference between a scientist’s overall general H-index and their discipline-specific D-index remains at or below 30%. This constraint reinforces alignment between general scholarly impact and focused disciplinary excellence.
Verification and Methodological Integrity
Recognizing the inherent limitations of raw bibliometric data as an absolute evaluative tool, the researchers responsible for this ranking undertook a meticulous manual verification process for each scientist profile. This process included cross-correlation of profiles against a broad array of trusted publications and data sources to validate accuracy and authenticity.
While a researcher's position in the ranking is defined exclusively by their D-index as derived from OpenAlex and CrossRef—two of the most prominent and widely recognized bibliometric databases accessible to the research community—the number of publications in leading journals and conference proceedings was also reviewed. Although this metric does not directly influence ranking positions, it constitutes an important secondary indicator of a scientist’s contribution to the field of Economics and Finance.
We encourage readers seeking more detail regarding our comprehensive approach and methodology to consult our methodology page, which provides an in-depth explanation of data collection, metric calculations, and validation protocols.
The Research.com Mission
At Research.com, our mission is to inspire researchers, corporations, policymakers, and the broader scientific community worldwide to examine the trajectories of leading experts across disciplines. By providing transparent, meticulously curated rankings, we aim to illuminate who the foremost authorities are within specific areas of study, across countries, and within academic and research institutions.
Through this initiative, we seek to foster greater visibility, collaboration, and appreciation of scholarly excellence, ultimately advancing the progress and impact of scientific research globally.
