JKU professors Siegfried Bauer (Institute for Experimental Physics), Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci and Markus Scharber (both from the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Linz Institute of Organic Solar Cells) are included in the list created by data firm Clarivate Analytics. The analysis includes scientific and academic papers published and cited between 2006 and 2016. "Highly Cited Researchers" are those who rank highest in their scientific and academic field during the years surveyed.

The list includes 40 Austrian researchers. There is a new column for interdisciplinary research, which led to double the number of Austrian researchers on the list as opposed to 2017.