Oct 2 2008
The Scientific business of Thomson Reuters today announced the 2008 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates"researchers likely to be in contention for Nobel honors " in anticipation of this year's Nobel Prize winners to be announced in October.
Each year, data from ISI Web of KnowledgeSM, a Thomson Reuters research solution, is used to quantitatively determine the most influential researchers in the Nobel categories of Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Nanotechnology, and Economics. Because of the total citations to their works, these high-impact researchers are named Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates and predicted to be Nobel Prize winners, either this year or in the future.
Last year, five Citation Laureates were awarded Nobel Prizes. Since 2002, of those named Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates, 12 have gone on to win Nobel Prizes.
"A strong correlation exists between citations in literature and peer esteem. Professional awards, like the Nobel Prize, are a reflection of this peer esteem," said David Pendlebury, Research Services, Thomson Reuters. "We choose our Citation Laureates by assessing citation counts and the number of high-impact papers while identifying discoveries or themes that may be considered worthy of recognition by the Nobel Committee."
The Scientific business of Thomson Reuters is the only organization to use quantitative data to make annual predictions of Nobel Prize winners.
The Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates typically rank among the top one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of researchers in their fields, based on citations of their published papers over the last two decades.
To select the 2008 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates, total citation counts and number of high-impact papers in the Nobel science fields were examined. These data were applied to categories within those scientific fields considered worthy of special recognition by the Nobel Committee: Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Nanotechnology, and Economics. Based on these criteria, possible winners - leaders within a particularly noteworthy area of study within each field - were selected.
For detailed information about each of the Citation Laureates, including information about their areas of study, and to read about previously named Citation Laureates, visit the Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates website at http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/nobel.