Library Help: Office For Open Research

What are citation percentiles?

Citation percentiles compare the citation performance of a publication to others published in the same field, year, and publication type. This allows researchers to understand how well a paper is performing relative to its peers—rather than just counting total citations.

For example: A paper in the 90th percentile has more citations than 90% of similar outputs, placing it in the top 10% for citation impact.

Percentiles are a field-normalised metric, meaning they adjust for the natural differences in citation behaviour across disciplines and timeframes.

Why are citation percentiles useful?

Citation percentiles can be helpful for:

• Benchmarking publication impact within disciplines

• Making fair comparisons across fields or career stages

• Identifying high-performing research outputs (e.g. top 10%, top 5%)

• Supporting evidence in REF case studies, funding applications, or promotions

• Evaluating publication quality with more context than raw citation counts

As with any metric, citation percentiles should be interpreted alongside other indicators and qualitative information.

For an accessible introduction, see our online learning resource:

• My Research Essentials: Using citation analysis to measure impact

How are citation percentiles calculated?

Percentiles are calculated by comparing citation counts for similar outputs. A few key reference points:

• 50th percentile = average (median) performance

• 90th percentile = top 10%

• 95th percentile = top 5%

• 99th percentile = top 1%

They adjust for:

• Field of research – some disciplines cite more frequently than others

• Publication year – older papers usually have more citations

• Document type – reviews and editorials often receive more citations

Where can I find citation percentiles?

SciVal (Elsevier)

SciVal provides citation percentiles for papers, authors, institutions, and research groups using Scopus data. Features include:

• Lists of outputs in top citation percentiles (top 10%, 5%, 1%)

• Global benchmarking tools

• Export options for custom reporting

Scopus (Elsevier)

Scopus also shows citation percentiles on article pages, allowing you to assess the relative performance of individual outputs.

InCites (Clarivate)

InCites (based on Web of Science data) provides:

• Citation percentile ranks by subject area, publication year, and document type

• Lists of top 10% and top 1% publications

• Institutional or department-level benchmarking

To explore citation percentiles in InCites, please contact the Office for Open Research

How to Find Citation Percentiles in SciVal 

To find citation percentiles in SciVal, follow these steps:

 1. Access SciVal 

• In order to access SciVal you will need to register for an account with Elsevier. You must use your University of Manchester email address and credentials in order to do this.  Once you have registered the tool can be accessed from www.scival.com 

2. Search for Your Paper or Author:

• You will need to locate your author profile within SciVal. Use the Explore function, then select Researchers & Groups. You will need to use the Create/Import option to locate your profile if you do not already have this saved within SciVal.

3. View Citation Percentile Data:

• Once you’ve found your profile, use the Publication Metrics option to view details of any papers which appear in the Top 10% citation percentiles (or above). You can also use the View list of publications option to details for individual papers. These can be exported which will provide details of individual paper percentile numbers. 
   

How to Find Citation Percentiles in Scopus

To find citation percentiles in Scopus, follow these steps:

1. Log In to Scopus:

   • Access Scopus using the link provided within Library search

2. Search for the Paper:

   • Enter the title, DOI, or other identifiers to search for the paper you're interested in.

3. Locate Citation Data:

   • Scopus will display citation metrics for that publication, including its citation percentile relative to similar papers in the same field and time period.
      

Further Reading

For more details on citation percentiles and how to use them in SciVal, we recommend reviewing Elsevier’s own dedicated resources:

• Elsevier’s Citation Percentiles in SciVal

If you have further questions then please contact the Office for Open Research