Salman Al-Sabah Ranks First Kuwaiti in Surgery Among 'Top 2% of Scientists Worldwide'

Deputy Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Salman Khalifa Al-Sabah ranked first among Kuwait-affiliated researchers in the field of surgery, according to the 2026 update of the Stanford-Elsevier list of the world’s top 2% of scientists and researchers. Sheikh Dr. Salman Al-Sabah placed 765th globally among 146,713 researchers classified in surgery, positioning him within the top 0.52% of researchers in his specialty, based on annual classification data.

The list is widely known as the Stanford-Elsevier list of the world’s top 2% of scientists. It is a scientific database compiled by a research team led by Professor John Ioannidis of Stanford University and published via the Elsevier data repository, based on data from the Scopus database. The list evaluates researchers’ scientific presence using a set of indicators, including the number of citations to published research, the h-index, the volume of research participation, and the researcher’s position within the authorship order of studies; it does not rely solely on the number of published papers.

The classification comprises two separate tracks: one measures research performance over the course of a researcher’s career, while the other tracks performance over a single year. According to available information, the 2026 update was published on October 7. The data for the annual track are based on citations and scientific results recorded during 2025.

This achievement highlights the strong scientific presence of Kuwaiti researchers in international academic rankings and underscores the growing reach and engagement of medical research within the global scholarly community.