Tracking Research Excellence: HKU’s Performance in Essential Science Indicators (ESI) 2026
— by Juliana Lau
Following our reviews of the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) research performance in 2024 and 2025, this post examines the latest 2026 data from Essential Science Indicators (ESI). ESI draws on the Web of Science Core Collection and identifies influential research across 22 broad fields. The latest figures show HKU’s continued strength across disciplines, alongside growth in both Highly Cited Papers and Hot Papers.
HKU’s ranking among Highly Cited Institutions
In this 3rd bi-monthly period 2026 data, HKU appears in 21 fields as Highly Cited Institution, meaning that HKU has accrued enough citations to place the institution in the top 1% of organizations producing research in the 21 out of 22 fields (Essential Science Indicators: Librarian, 2026).
HKU ranks within the top 10% of Highly Cited Institutions based on the total citations in seven research fields: Clinical Medicine (175th of 7,163); Engineering (84th of 3,065); Social Sciences, General (49th of 2,575); Environment/Ecology (134th of 2,211); Materials Science (154th of 1,726); Computer Science (89th of 938); and Microbiology (70th of 876).
| Research field | Rank of HKU | Total number of Highly Cited Institutions |
| Clinical Medicine | 175 | 7163 |
| Computer Science | 89 | 938 |
| Engineering | 84 | 3065 |
| Environment/Ecology | 134 | 2211 |
| Materials Science | 154 | 1726 |
| Microbiology | 70 | 876 |
| Social Sciences, General | 49 | 2575 |
Table 1: HKU in Top 1 ‰ [1] of the research fields (in alphabetical order based on research field)
A new high in Highly Cited Papers
In this 3rd bi-monthly period 2026, HKU researchers authored 1,701 Highly Cited Papers across 22 ESI fields. These papers are among the top 1% of papers in their field and publication year by citation count (Essential Science Indicators: Librarian, 2026).
Clinical Medicine leads with 419 Highly Cited Papers, followed by Social Sciences, General (170), Engineering (154), Physics (124) and Materials Science (101). Compared with 2025, the number of Highly Cited Papers in Computer Science more than doubled, rising from 45 papers in 2025 to 97 in 2026. Other notable increases include Social Sciences, General (130 to 170), Engineering (120 to 154), Geosciences (64 to 89), and Materials Science (81 to 101). These gains show that HKU’s Highly Cited Papers are spread across multiple research fields, rather than being concentrated in a single discipline.
Figure 1: Number of Highly Cited Papers Authored by HKU Researchers from 2022 to 2026
Hot Paper
Hot Papers are papers published within the past two years that rank among the top 0.1% in their respective fields based on citations received during the most recent two-month period (Essential Science Indicators: Librarian, 2026). In the 3rd bi-monthly period of 2026, 69 HKU Hot Papers across 15 fields are recorded, compared with 53 reported in 2025. Clinical Medicine standout as previous year, with 19 Hot Papers, followed by Engineering (8) and Psychiatry/Psychology (6). Geosciences, Materials Science, Physics and Social Sciences each contributed five. These figures signal rapid attention to recent HKU research.
Figure 2: Number of Hot Papers Authored by HKU Researchers (descending based on HKU’s number of Hot Papers)
Key takeaway
The 2026 results highlight the breadth and visibility of HKU research. The University is listed among Highly Cited Institutions in 21 of 22 fields, while the 1,701 Highly Cited Papers mark a new high. These results reflect University contributions across a wide range of disciplines.
Notes
- Top 1‰ institution is derived by the citation rank of an institution within all Highly Cited Institutions listed on ESI in the same research field. For example, there are 7163 Highly Cited Institutions in Clinical Medicine in 2026. Institution rank of 716 or above would be regarded as top 1‰ institution in the field.
Extended Reading
Charting Impact: HKU’s 2025 Performance in Essential Science Indicators (ESI)
HKU Performance in ESI data – Research Performance Statistics Released in September 2023
Reference
Essential Science Indicators: Librarian. (2026). https://clarivate.libguides.com/c.php?g=593878&p=4107959
Declaration of Generative AI Use
I acknowledge the use of Generative AI tools in writing this post.
I used:
- GPT-6 Sol to check for grammar mistakes and typos and improve sentence structure of the content I wrote.
I declare that I reviewed and edited the contents as needed and take full responsibility for the contents of the post; And the information provided is complete and accurate.
