The list in Table 2 and Figure 3 provides a snapshot of the most prolific authors in the field of biochar research. Each of these researchers has made significant publications, as demonstrated by the large number of papers they've published on the subject. At the top of the list is Yong Sik Ok from Korea University, who has an impressive count of 535 publications. Following Ok is Dan Tsang from Hongkong Polytechnic University with 269 publications, and Hailong Wang from Foshan University with 222 papers.
The remaining authors, including Joerg Rinklebe from Wuppertal in Germany, Bin Gao from University of Florida, Nanthi Sirangie Bolan from University in Western Australia, and others, have each published over 100 papers, underlining their active roles in publishing biochar research.
The results are in line with previous bibliometric studies who hailed Yong Sik Ok as the most prolific researcher in Biochar followed by Gao Bin and Dan Tsang (Abdeljaoued et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020). Qin et al. (2022) already revealed closely collaborating clusters of authors with strong subgroup connections, with Yong Sik Ok, Daniel C.W. Tsang and Bin Gao at their core. It's worth noting that the presence of these authors with high publication counts indicates a concentrated effort by a group of collaborating researchers in this field.
Highly cited authors
Table 2 lists profilic authors who have published more than 10 highly cited papers on biochar. Highly cited papers are scientific papers that have received a large number of citations from other papers in the scientific literature or top 1% based on the number of citations received when compared to other papers published in the same field in the same year. They are from the last 10 years of publications (from 2013 to April 2023).
Table 2. Profilic authors who have published more than 10 highly cited papers (HCP) on biochar based on Web of Science.
Author | Affiliation | HCP | Group |
Ok, Yong Sik | Korea University, Korea | 92 | Ok |
Tsang, Dan | Hongkong Polytechnic, China | 66 | Tsang |
Gao, Bin | University of Florida, USA | 46 | Gao |
Rinklebe, Joerg | Wuppertal University, Germany | 46 | Ok |
Zeng, Guangming | Hunan University, china | 46 | Zeng |
Bolan, Nanthi Sirangie | University of Western Australia, Australia | 31 | Ok |
Wang, Hailong | Foshan University, China | 28 | Ok |
Tan, Xiaofei | Hunan University, china | 19 | Zeng |
Shaheen, Sabry M. | Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt | 19 | Ok |
Zhang, Chen | Hunan University, china | 17 | Zeng |
Cao, Xinde | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 16 | Ok, Gap |
Huang, Danlian | Hunan University, china | 16 | Ok |
Zhang, Zengqiang | Northwest A&F University - China | 14 | Ok |
Hou, Deyi | Tsinghua University | 14 | Ok |
Tao, sun | Korea University, Korea | 14 | Ok |
Lai, Cui | Hunan University, china | 13 | Zeng |
Cheng, min | Hunan University, china | 13 | Zeng |
Zimmerman, Andrew R. | University of Florida, USA | 13 | Gao |
Sun, Yuqing | Sun Yat Sen University | 13 | Tsang |
Lam, Su Shiung | Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia | 12 | Ok |
Ali, Shafaqat | China Medical University (Taiwan) | 12 | Ok |
Vithanage, Meththika | University Sri Jayewardenepura, Si Lanka | 12 | Ok |
Rizwan, Muhammad | Government College University Faisalabad | 12 | Ok |
Wang, Shengsen | Yangzhou University | 11 | Gao, Ok |
Ye, Shujing | Guangxi University | 11 | Zeng |
Sarkar, Binoy | University of South Australia | 11 | Ok |
Yong Sik Ok tops the list with a remarkable 92 highly cited papers, further solidifying his position as a leading figure in biochar publication. Following Ok, Dan Tsang with 66 highly cited papers and Bin Gao, Joerg Rinklebe, and Guangming Zeng, each with 46 highly cited papers, have also made substantial contributions to the field that have resonated with their peers.
Even authors toward the bottom of the list from the third world countries, such as Su Shiung Lam from Malaysia, Shafaqat Ali from China, Meththika Vithanage from Sri Lanka, and Muhammad Rizwan from Pakistan, each with 12 highly cited papers, have made to the citations list. The high citation counts indicate that these authors' work is not only prolific but also of highly cited by others. Johannes Lehmann, the biochar expert from Cornell, hailed as a top scientist was dethroned by Yong Sik Ok in terms of highly cited paper (Kumar et al. 2023).
Additionally, this study conducts a network analysis of co-authorship among the authors of highly cited papers. The findings using VOSviewer, presented in Figure 4 using VosViewer analysis, indicate that with there were 4 main groups of researchers dominating the highly cited papers. They are:
(1) Red group led by Yong Sik Ok from Korea University
(2) Purple group led by Dan Tsang from Hongkong Polytechnic
(3) Yellow group led by Gao Bin from Florida University
(4) Green group led by Guangming Zeng from Hunan University
A small Blue group led by Yauyu Zhou from Hunan Agricultural University is actually in the Green group.