UniCal Celebrates Four Researchers Named Among World’s Top 2% Scientists
FOUR academics at the University of Calabar have been recognised in the 2026 global list of the top two per cent of scientists, marking a notable achievement for the university’s research community.
The institution announced the recognition through its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Effiong Eyo, in a statement released in Calabar on Saturday. According to the university, the development enhances the international visibility of its scholars and their research.
The four academics represent three broad areas of scientific work. Prof. Edet Aniekan, from Engineering, recorded 23 citations, while Dr. Ikeuba Alexander, in Enabling and Strategic Technologies, had 26.
Meanwhile, Prof. Meremikwu Madu, whose area is Clinical Medicine, recorded 35 citations. Prof. Chukwuemeka Okafor, also associated with Enabling and Strategic Technologies, recorded 35 citations as well.
The recognition follows the latest release of the Elsevier/Stanford author databases, which use citation indicators to assess researchers’ scientific impact. The university explained that the data cover career-long impact up to the end of 2025 and single-year impact for the 2025 calendar year.
In addition, the four academics feature in a Nigerian University Representation Analysis compiled independently by Dr. Valentine Owan from the official 2026 data. The analysis identified Nigerian authors in the databases and organised them according to their university affiliations.
To maintain consistency, the exercise counted each author once within the relevant database. It also assigned researchers from constituent colleges and teaching hospitals to their parent universities where the links were clear.
However, the analysis excluded standalone research institutes, independent hospitals, government organisations and polytechnics from university classifications. Owan emphasised that the figures reflected the number of researchers associated with each institution in the databases, rather than a direct assessment of institutional research quality.
That distinction is important because the number of listed researchers does not, on its own, establish the overall strength or quality of a university’s research output. Instead, the figures offer a measure of representation within the specific databases and ranking methodology.
For UniCal, the inclusion of four academics provides recognition across Engineering, Clinical Medicine, and Enabling and Strategic Technologies. It also draws attention to the role of university researchers in producing work that attracts citations and contributes to wider scientific discussions.
The university described the achievement as a source of pride for its academic community. Ultimately, sustaining such visibility will depend on continued research, scholarly collaboration and the production of work that advances knowledge in the scholars’ respective fields.
