Identifying key opinion leaders (KOLs)  and connecting with them is essential for journals aiming to remain competitive, inclusive, and authoritative. And that is what  James Butcher, a veteran in scholarly publishing with over 25 years of experience, including editorial roles at The Lancet and publishing roles at the Nature Portfolio, has shared in his new how-to video. He provides practical insights on how to use Dimensions to identify KOLs in a field. In his talk, he explains how editors and publishers can harness Dimensions to find, assess, and engage with influential researchers.

Why identifying Key Opinion Leaders matters

Editors and publishers must continuously scout for impactful voices within their domains. Whether the goal is to:

  • Diversify an editorial board,
  • Attract top authors from competitor journals, or
  • Commission review articles from authoritative voices,

Butcher points out that identifying KOLs with data-backed precision can significantly elevate a journal’s visibility and credibility – if editors and publishers act on the data. Dimensions, a product of the Digital Science portfolio, offers an expansive and versatile toolkit for this very purpose.

A three-part methodology for finding KOLs using Dimensions

Butcher’s presentation breaks down the process into three practical use cases:

1. Spotting Prolific and Highly Cited Researchers

Starting with a targeted query, for instance, filtering research articles in cancer between 2022 and 2024, users can refine results using:

  • Publication types (e.g., articles only),
  • Research areas (e.g., clinical, population, and health services),
  • RCDC classifications (e.g., cancer subtypes).

In the Analytical Views tab, Dimensions allows sorting by publication count, total citations, and median citations (a better metric for skewed data like citations). The “Researcher” view offers a ranked list of active contributors: ideal candidates for editorial boards, partnerships, or outreach.

Additionally, users can filter researchers by country, helping uncover underrepresented voices in regions like Germany, and drill into specializations such as breast or colorectal cancer using the heat map tool.

2. Analyzing Where Researchers Publish

Another powerful strategy is examining which journals researchers prefer. With Dimensions’ heat map functionality, users can see publishing patterns across specific journals and publishers.

For instance, by limiting searches to top oncology journals like The Lancet Oncology, Annals of Oncology, and JCO, editors can:

  • Identify authors who are consistently publishing in competitor journals but not in their own
  • Recognize “superfans” who frequently submit to their journal
  • Detect potential targets for engagement and outreach.

Further filtering, for example, excluding U.S.-based authors, can help international journals identify emerging voices from other regions.

3. Commissioning Review Articles from the Right Experts

Dimensions also helps editors pinpoint researchers who are well-positioned to write review articles. Using filters for document types (research + review articles) and topics (e.g., breast cancer), editors can assess not only publication volume but also the proportion of review articles in a researcher’s output.

While Dimensions doesn’t natively show this ratio, exporting data into Excel allows manual cross-referencing. Editors can then strategically select:

  • Researchers with strong research portfolios but few or no review articles (to bring fresh perspectives), or
  • Authors with proven experience in writing reviews (if consistency is desired).

Key takeaways for editors and publishers

Butcher emphasizes that editors share many traits with great salespeople, they need to understand their “customers” (researchers) and proactively build relationships. Dimensions can be a game-changer in enabling this by offering:

  • Visibility into top experts in a subject or geography,
  • Insights into researcher publishing behaviors,
  • Tools to support strategic commissioning and board development.

Whether you’re planning to grow your editorial board, target new authors, or ensure your journal reflects a diverse and authoritative voice, Dimensions gives you the data-driven tools to act decisively. Try these strategies yourself and discover how to turn analytics into engagement. Learn more about Dimensions or request a demo today.

Disclaimer: This blog post is based on a video produced by James Butcher. The video is sponsored, but James had full editorial control over its content.