UEM researchers are among the most influential in the world

The State University of Maringá (Universidade Estadual de Maringá - UEM) has advanced in the 2024 ranking of the world's most cited researchers, made annually by Stanford University (USA), in partnership with the renowned publisher Elsevier. This year, 12 researchers from UEM are in the ranking, compared to nine in the 2023 edition. The list brings together 2% of the world's most influential scientists.

In order of ranking by citations in 2023, the UEM researchers listed are: Marcos Luciano Bruschi (36,111) from Pharmacy; Maurício Guimarães Araújo (40,612) from Dentistry; Sidinei Magela Thomaz (49,906) from Marine Biology; Angelo Antonio Agostinho (71. 722) from Fishing; Valter Afonso Vieira (93.754) from Administration; Jesuí Vergílio Visentainer (101.795) from Food Science; Rosângela Bergamasco (119.062) from Chemical Engineering; André Luís Cazetta (151.698) from Chemical Engineering; Haroldo Valentin Ribeiro (161.747) from Physics; Marcelo Moreira Cavalcanti (171,301) from Applied Mathematics; Celso Vataru Nakamura (215,674) from Pharmacy; and João Luiz Pratti Daniel (380,470) from Animal Science.

The ranking also surveys citations throughout their careers. This year, seven of UEM's 12 scientists also appear in this ranking. According to their scores, the scientists ranked are: Araujo (65,871), Thomaz (116,119), Agostinho (144,794), Bruschi (146,839), Visentainer (156,095), Cavalcanti (177,652) and Nakamura (244,179).

In addition to UEM, three more state universities in Paraná appear in the 2024 ranking. While last year 22 researchers from State Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were listed, this year the total has risen to 27. In addition to the 12 researchers from UEM, nine researchers from the State University of Londrina (Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL), three from the State University of Ponta Grossa (Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa - UEPG) and three from the State University of Centro Oeste (Unicentro) are also on the list.

Researcher Marcos Bruschi, from the Department of Pharmacy (DFA), UEM's top-ranked researcher in the 2024 edition, has been on the list since 2019. He believes his position reflects the progress of the research carried out at UEM and the growing impact it has on the international stage. "My ranking is due to my focus and intense work, seeking out undergraduate, master's and doctoral students and focusing on research in pharmaceutical technology, nanotechnology, drug delivery, natural products, which has been my line of research for over 30 years, since I was an undergraduate student at UEM itself.” he says.

For Bruschi, his ranking was also boosted by his international career and solid work with researchers from different countries. "I have partnerships with several researchers, in important research groups in the field of Pharmacy in the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, the United States, in short, we don't do science alone. Our research is part of the international scene and this ranking is recognition of our work, showing the quality of what we do at the State University of Maringá. The subjects we work on are important in the world of pharmaceuticals. We do cutting-edge, high-quality research and this ranking is recognition of that," he said.

UEM’s rector, Leandro Vanalli, congratulated the researchers and commented on the significant and growing presence of professors in this ranking. "The growing presence in the ranking is not only an individual achievement by UEM researchers, but also a reflection of the public university's commitment to high-quality research and scientific innovation. These results reinforce the University's role as a center of excellence and help to consolidate UEM on the global map of research and science. The international visibility provided by the presence in this ranking can also open doors to new partnerships and funding, further boosting research at our UEM, in our state. Once again, we congratulate these civil servants and researchers for everything they do for UEM and our state," he said.

The Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Affairs (Office of Research and Graduate Affairs - PPG), Mauro Antonio da Silva Sá Ravagnani, also evaluated the prominence of UEM researchers in the ranking. "The State University of Maringá is going through a good period. As far as scientific production is concerned, although we felt the effects of the pandemic, our researchers have managed to return to the previous levels of that period. So we realize that there is a natural growth and, for this very reason, new researchers are appearing among this group of the most influential researchers in the world. This is an effect that can be considered as a result of the increase in the number of postgraduate programs, the number of master's and doctoral students who will make scientific productions appear," Ravagnani concluded, congratulating everyone involved.

Stanford/Elsevier rankings

The Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientist Rankings, updated for 2024, are based on scientific citations in 2022, with data verified up to the end of 2023. This ranking includes approximately 2% of the most cited researchers in the world, evaluated by a series of metrics, such as the h-index (quantifies productivity and impact based on the most cited articles), co-authorship adjustments and a composite citation score (score-c), which seeks to reflect the relevance of scientists beyond the total number of publications.

Published under the title Updated Science-Wide Author Databases of Standardized Citation Indicators 2024, the survey uses data from Elsevier's Scopus database, which has undergone detailed analysis by researcher John Ioannidis and his team at Stanford University. The methodology classifies researchers into 22 scientific areas and 174 subfields based on parameters established by the Science-Metrix, taking into account the impact of publications and self-citations, based on Scopus data provided by Elsevier through the ICSR Lab.
The ranking is divided into two categories: annual citations, from 2023, and citations throughout a career..