Top 10% Most Cited is an indicator of the scientific impact of publications. This indicator defines the impact of one country's publications in international research.

Data is based on the Web of Science database by Thomson-Reuters. The percentage of top cited publications is computed for each scientific field based on fractional counting (i.e. in the case of multiple national affiliations, a fraction of the publication is assigned to each country). Generally, citations to papers peak in the second, third, or fourth year after publication, but some papers continue to be cited for many years. A few papers may show delayed recognition. The patterns can vary greatly depending on the type of paper, the field, and the nature of the finding reported. Papers reporting discoveries, for example, can rise quickly and then fall as the discovery is further described in other articles. Papers reporting methods or techniques can gradually increase in citation frequency over several years as the methods are disseminated throughout the community and prove their own usefulness.