The Most Cited Researchers In The Media In 2025 – Seven Are From AU

Professor of wildlife ecology, Peter Sunde, is the only AU researcher among the top 10 on the list of the 50 most cited experts in Danish media in 2025, which DM Akademikerbladet has just published in collaboration with Retriever.

Peter Sunde, who is responsible for the national monitoring of the wolf population in Denmark, thus overtakes Professor in economics and former Chief economic advisor, Michael Svarer, who has been the most cited AU researcher for the past three years and was number two on the list last year. Peter Sunde is number 8 on the list, while Michael Svarer is number 13 this year. 

MICHAEL SVARER IS ONCE AGAIN THE MOST CITED AU RESEARCHER IN THE MEDIA

LIST MARKED BY INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT, DEFENCE AND ELECTIONS

Once again, the most cited expert of the year is Associate Professor Peter Viggo Jakobsen from the Royal Danish Defence College. Overall, the list reflects the fact that topics such as international conflict, defence and security have been prominent in the media over the past year – and that 2025 was an election year with municipal and regional elections.

AU experts are from Aarhus BSS, with one exception

On the list for 2024, nine AU researchers were among the 50 most cited. This year, the number has declined to seven. In addition to Peter Sunde and Michael Svarer, Professor of political science, Rune Stubager, is also among the returnees from the 2024 list. 

The other four, however, are new to the list. They are Professor of political science Michael Bang Petersen, Professor of economics Torben M. Andersen, Associate Professor of political science Rasmus Brun Pedersen and Associate Professor of political science Martin Vinæs Larsen. Peter Sunde is thus the only AU expert on the list who isn’t from either the Department of Political Science or the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences (BSS). The complete list includes a total of five experts with a background in the humanities.

3 OUT OF 50 ARE WOMEN

Among the 50 experts on the list, there are only three women, which is a decrease compared to last year, when there were five women on the list. The three female experts are also at the bottom of the list, with the exception of Associate Professor Isabel Bramsen, who researches peace and conflict at Lund University (Sweden) and ranks 40th on the list. None of the researchers on the list is from abroad, nor are any from minority backgrounds. 

Regarding this image, DM chair Janne Gleerup states to DM Akademikerbladet that "the media should make every effort to ensure diversity in their use of experts, so that a broad range of knowledge can be brought into play in the public sphere."

At the same time, she praises the researchers for undertaking a communication task of great social interest: 

“Respect for knowledge is under pressure in many parts of the world, which makes it even more important for researchers and experts to take the time to talk to journalists and provide the debate with figures, facts and context. Their contribution is a strong defence against misinformation," she says.

For the sixth consecutive year, DM Akademikerbladet has published a list of the 50 most cited experts in the Danish media. Last year, the magazine began counting the number of citations both with and without those sent to the Danish media via the Ritzau news agency. If one removes the many repetitions that arise through the media's reproduction of news from Ritzau, the number of citations is significantly lower. Peter Sunde is cited 705 times, including Ritzau citations; without Ritzau citations, the number drops to 504 citations.

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen.