Global Research Landscape of High-Level Studies in Geosciences based on Highly Cited Papers

The objective of this study was to analyse the characteristics of highly cited papers (HCPs) in the research field of geosciences based on the Essential Science Indicators database, which is widely used to evaluate institutions and researchers. Multi-aspects, including country/region’s productivity distribution, organizations, authors, detailed categories and hot topics, journals and implications of collaboration networks have been explored in this study. The main findings are: (1) USA ranks first in geosciences research with over 60% global share, with most of the leading organizations (12 out of 15) also from that country. (2) The percentage of international collaborations is high in this research field; the collaboration shows tangled networks among countries/regions (organizations) and also indicates close connections worldwide. (3) Despite the dominance of USA in productivity, only 5 of the top 15 authors are from that country, and relatively tight collaboration networks are found among the top authors. (4) The current high-level researches in geosciences focus on meteorology, geochemistry, geophysics, remote sensing and oceanography, and topics involving climate change draw most of the attention.