IISc and IITs Dominate, ETEducation

New Delhi: India’s representation in the World’s Top 2% Scientists list continued to grow in 2026, but the annual increase in its single-year category slowed compared with the previous edition. The number of India-affiliated researchers rose to about 6,953 from 6,235, an increase of 11.5%, according to TOPSCINET’s analysis of the Stanford–Elsevier citation database.

The number of institution-name entries represented in the single-year list increased from 1,568 to 1,759. The figures indicate a broader spread of affiliations in the database, although they do not necessarily represent an equivalent increase in the number of distinct universities or research organisations.

The database, compiled by John P. A. Ioannidis and collaborators and published through Elsevier’s Data Repository, uses standardised citation indicators to assess researchers’ impact. The 2026 single-year list reflects citations received during 2025, while the career-long category measures citation impact accumulated over a researcher’s career.

India’s Top 2% scientists: How the numbers have changed

Source: TOPSCINET’s analysis of the Stanford–Elsevier database. Figures have not been independently recalculated from the original spreadsheets.

The growth rates show a contrast between the two categories. The single-year count grew by 11.5%, compared with 16.5% in the previous edition. The career-long count increased by 15.6%, up from 14.7% growth in 2025.

The two categories measure different aspects of citation impact and should not be added together to calculate the number of unique researchers. An individual may appear in both lists, in one category or in neither.

The faster growth in the career-long category is a notable feature of the latest edition, but the figures alone do not establish why it occurred. Changes in citation patterns, database coverage and researcher affiliations can influence the counts. The results should therefore be read as a measure of representation in a citation-based database rather than direct evidence of an improvement in research quality.

IISc and IITs lead institutional representation

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has the largest number of researchers in the 2026 single-year list, followed by IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur. Vellore Institute of Technology, IIT Roorkee and IIT Bombay also feature among the leading institutions.

Source: TOPSCINET’s presentation of the 2026 single-year data. Institution names have not been independently consolidated across campuses, departments and affiliated entities.

The list is led by established research institutions, particularly IISc and the IITs, while private and specialised medical institutions also feature prominently. However, the counts are not a consolidated ranking of university research performance. Institution names may appear separately in the database, and researchers may have more than one affiliation.

A meaningful year-on-year institutional comparison would require the 2025 and 2026 records to be checked using consistent rules for institution names and affiliations. Without that exercise, a change in an institution’s count should not automatically be interpreted as a gain or loss in research performance.

Nagaland University and NIT Rourkela among institutions represented

Institutional announcements from outside the largest contributors illustrate the range of research areas represented in the database.

Nagaland University has reported four faculty members in the 2026 single-year category: Prabhakar Sharma from Agricultural Engineering and Technology; Ambrish Singh from Chemistry; Joginder Singh from Botany; and Pranav Kumar Prabhakar from Biotechnology. The university said three of them, Ambrish Singh, Joginder Singh and Pranav Kumar Prabhakar, also feature in the career-long category.

Their research areas range from environmental engineering, hydrology and materials chemistry to plant and environmental research, metabolic disorders and oral insulin delivery.

Ambrish Singh said his continued inclusion in the list over seven years reflected a sustained commitment to research and could act as a catalyst for further work. Nagaland University vice-chancellor Jagadish K. Patnaik said the recognition reflected the faculty’s research contributions and international visibility.

NIT Rourkela has reported 29 faculty members and one PhD graduate in the single-year list. According to the institute, the researchers work across disciplines including life sciences, materials and chemical engineering, mathematics, humanities and social sciences, food process engineering, electronics, physics, civil engineering and mining engineering. The institute also reported 19 researchers in the career-long category.

The examples illustrate the range of institutions and disciplines represented, but do not establish whether either institution has increased its representation year on year. That would require a consistent comparison of researcher-level records across editions.

What the Top 2% label measures

The Stanford–Elsevier database uses standardised bibliometric indicators to identify researchers with high citation impact globally or within their subfields. Its methodology relies on publication and citation records available through Scopus and a composite citation indicator.

The list is not a comprehensive ranking of universities or their research ecosystems. Citation patterns differ across disciplines, and inclusion does not directly measure teaching quality, research funding, patents, industry collaboration or the societal value of research.

For universities and research institutions, the database offers one indicator of researchers’ visibility in scholarly literature. A fuller assessment of research performance would also consider research output, funding, collaboration and the translation of findings into practice.