Two Vietnamese scientists have been selected to the list of 2019 Highly Cited Researchers according to the Web of Science.

Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung 

Web of Science is described as the world’s most trusted publisher-independent global citation database. The Highly Cited Researchers list recognises world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science.

Five overseas Vietnamese researchers are listed; Vo Van Anh from Australia's Swinburne University of Technology, Tran Phan Lam Son from Japan's RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Nguyen Son Binh from the US' Northwestern University, Nguyen Thuc Quyen from the US' California University, and Ngo Huu Hao from the University of Technology, Sydney.

As of November 19 however, there is no one based in Vietnam was included in the list. Two researchers with a secondary affiliation to Vietnam, Professor Bui Tien Dieu and Professor Nguyen Xuan Hung.

Bui Tien Dieu's primary affiliation is University College of Southeastern Norway in Norway and secondary affiliation is Ton Duc Thang University in Vietnam. Nguyen Xuan Hung's primary affiliation is China Medical University and their second affiliation is HCM City University of Technology.

Dieu is the head of a leading research group at Ton Duc Thang University. In September, Hung was ranked among 100,000 world' most influential scientists for his work at a South Korean university according to PLOS Biology. This is the sixth year Hung was named among the highly-cited researchers list.

Dr Le Van Ut from Ton Duc Thang University said compared to the highly-cited researcher list published by PLOS Biology, the list published by the Web of Science is more prestigious.

Web of Science uses the database from 16,830 top magazines to find 6,216 best names while PLOS Biology uses 24,701 magazines for 100,000 names.

Ut said researchers that had been named in the lists were influential and masters in their fields. A research facility or a country with many named researchers means it is more scientific superior.