On May 7, 2020, Elsevier announced its 2019 list of China’s Most Cited Researchers, which has been the 6th edition of its annual list since 2015. 7 scholars from the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS) were included in the list. They are Academicians HOU Zengqian and YANG Jingsui, Professors WAN Yusheng, LIU Dunyi, LIU Fulai, ZHANG Zeming, and ZHANG Jianxin.

It is known that the Elsevier list of Chinese Most Cited Researchers is based on objective quoted data from Scopus, the world's largest peer-reviewed academic paper index abstract database which systematically analyzes the influence of Chinese researchers in the world and presents the most influential Chinese scholars in the world to the academia and the public. The list covers science, technology, medicine, social science, arts and humanities and other disciplines. 

A total of 2,163 domestic scholars from 242 universities, academic institutions or enterprises were selected to be in the 2019 list, across 39 different subject areas, among whom 87 were in the field of “Earth and Planetary science”. CAGS altogether has 8 Most Cited Researchers in the list, 7 from the Institute of Geology.

(Source: Elsevier, Shanghai Ranking)