Frequently asked questions

Can I create or claim my scholar profile?

No. Scholars cannot create or claim a profile. Public profiles are generated from published Top 1000 results, not user registration. If your name is missing, see the next answer. You can request a review, but this does not guarantee inclusion or a ranking.

Why can't I find my name?

First choose “Scholars” in the site-wide search and try your full name, initials, another spelling, or your name with your institution. Search within a ranking only covers that category and time window's published World Top1000. A missing name may reflect a name variation or source-identity issue, but it may also mean, unfortunately, that you have no published Top 1000 result in any eligible field and window in this edition. The analysis includes 98.52 million author records, while 2.31 million scholar profiles are publicly searchable. Author records are not distinct people, so these figures cannot be divided into an admission rate or compared directly with another ranking's “top 2%.” We cannot determine the reason for an individual absence without checking the record. If you think a result is missing, email hello@scholarlyindex.com with your ORCID, institution, and representative publication DOIs for review. Profiles cannot be created on request.

Why are there two profiles with the same name?

Different researchers can share a name, and one researcher may also have fragmented source records. Please send the links or scholar IDs for both profiles, your ORCID, institution history, and representative publication DOIs. We check authorship work by work before separating or merging records. A matching name alone is not enough.

Why is my institution incorrect or out of date?

The current edition scores publications from complete years through 2025; 2026 publications are not part of the scored publication cohort because that year is incomplete. Affiliation observations may include 2026 and do not share that scoring cutoff. The institution on a profile is not a live employment record. It is the primary institution observed in the most recent year with affiliation evidence, based on publication contributions within that year. It may therefore differ from the institution associated with most of your career publications. The institution displayed on a profile does not mean that all of the scholar's publications or citations belong to that institution; attribution must follow the affiliations on individual works. Please send a dated institutional profile and publication DOIs showing the correct author affiliation. We review the evidence and publish validated corrections in a traceable version; a country change may also affect national ranks.

Why can't I find my university?

Institution search reflects the published catalog of matched affiliations; it is not a complete directory of universities or an accreditation list. A missing result does not mean the university is unrecognized. Please provide its official website and publications showing the institution in the author affiliation so we can investigate the source match.

Why am I not in a Top 1000 list even if I have many citations?

Each ranking is calculated separately for a subject category and time window. Public ranks depend on eligible works, author identity evidence, category evidence, and multiple impact components. Citation totals or an H-index from another service cannot be converted directly into a Top1000 Scholar rank. A searchable profile also does not guarantee a rank in every category.

Why is someone with fewer citations ranked while I am not?

Rankings are calculated separately within each category and time window. They use a category-specific Impact Score that combines normalized impact, detectable non-self-citations, global non-self H-index, category D-index, leadership, and sustained output. Having more overall citations alone therefore does not guarantee a higher rank. The “Citations” figure on the ranking page is a scholar's global lifetime total, shown for context. The examples below compare citations to category-assigned works with that overall total for the scholar at World #1000 in each list in the 2026 Lifetime edition. “Higher” and “lower” describe these selected category-citation examples, not the extremes across all lists.

Major Categories

Subfields

Low citation totals can also occur in Subfields: at World #1000, Conservation and Cultural Heritage has 32 category citations (56 overall), while Music and Musicology has 148 (155 overall). These scholars compete within their own Subfield and meet its publication and D-index evidence requirements. The counts describe this edition's indexed output; they do not measure every form of scholarly contribution.

Topics

“Category citations” sums the snapshot citation counts of unique indexed works assigned to that category in the scoring cohort, with publication years through 2025. It counts citations received by those works regardless of the citing work's field, includes self-citations, and gives each coauthor full credit. “Overall citations” uses the same snapshot counts across all of the scholar's indexed works, which may also include later indexed publications. A work can belong to more than one category, so category totals should not be added together.

These are observed citation counts for individual rank-1,000 scholars, not citation cutoffs or ranking scores. The minimum evidence for an exact Lifetime rank in a Major Category or Subfield is at least 2.0 fractional-equivalent works in that category and a Category D-index of at least 2; for a Topic it is at least three Topic-linked works, Topic membership weight of at least 1.0, and a Topic D-index of at least 2. Eligible scholars are then ordered by the category-specific Impact Score, subject to the public author-entity gate and a maximum of 1,000 World ranks. See the methodology. To review a particular case, send both profile links and the publications or citations you believe are missing.

Why do my citation count and H-index differ from other sources?

Our published citation counts and H-index are based on a frozen source-data snapshot, not live updates. The current edition scores publications from complete years through 2025 because 2026 is still incomplete. This publication-year cutoff is different from the citation snapshot date: it does not mean that all citations received during 2026 are excluded. Metrics can be lower than those on a live service because newer publications and citations may not yet be indexed, and databases differ in coverage, author matching, and record handling. Our displayed H-index and the non-self H-index used in the Impact Score also have different definitions.

We plan to release an updated edition covering the complete 2026 publication year in the first half of 2027, after allowing time for source indexing and validation. This is a planned release window, not a guarantee that citation data will be complete or permanently stable; citations and source records continue to change. Update lag can explain some differences, but it does not establish that every discrepancy is correct. If you believe publications or citations are missing, please send your profile link, ORCID, representative DOIs, and a dated comparison for review.

Why was I previously included in the World’s Top 2% Scientists list but not in Top1000 Scholar?

The two systems use different selection rules and calculations, so inclusion in one does not guarantee inclusion in the other. The World’s Top 2% Scientists database provides separate career-long and single-year results. Top1000 Scholar calculates separate Lifetime and 2021–2025 rankings, publishing up to 1,000 scholars in each Major Category, Subfield, or Topic.

Data sources, subject classifications, indicators, and eligibility requirements also differ. Please compare the same edition, subject area, and time window, and consult our methodology. Absence from our lists does not invalidate your previous inclusion or scholarly contributions.

If you suspect an omission or error, email hello@scholarlyindex.com with the year and type of your previous listing, your ORCID, institution, and representative publication DOIs. We will record and investigate the issue. Validated corrections will be incorporated into a subsequent release; inclusion and a specific update date are not guaranteed.

Why does my profile show an incorrect name or institution?

This may reflect an author-identity mismatch or historical affiliation information. Researchers with the same name, initials or spelling variations, and incorrectly merged or split source records can lead to inaccurate profile associations.

The displayed institution is not a live employment record. It represents the primary institution observed in the most recent year with affiliation evidence, based on publication contributions within that year. For example, if you moved in 2024–2025 but publications carrying your new affiliation are not yet fully indexed, your profile may still show your doctoral, postdoctoral, or previous institution. Having more publications at an older institution does not, by itself, determine the displayed affiliation.

Please send your profile link, ORCID, affiliation dates, and representative DOIs showing the relevant authorship and affiliations. An official institutional profile is also helpful. We will distinguish identity errors from historical affiliations and publish validated corrections in a subsequent release. The displayed institution does not imply that all your publications or citations belong to that institution.

What happens after I report a correction?

Use “Report correction” on an existing profile and keep the ticket number. For a missing profile, email hello@scholarlyindex.com with your ORCID, institution, and representative publication DOIs. A report does not immediately change a published profile, metric, rank, or certificate. We review the evidence and publish validated changes in a traceable release.