Political scientist and researcher Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, President of the Romanian Academic Society (SAR), Professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, and Director of the European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building (ERCAS), has been included in the international Stanford–Elsevier Top 2% Scientists list in the field of Political Science & Public Administration. Her work and contributions have also been documented in a biographical profile published by The Notable People Project, an international archive dedicated to individuals whose achievements have had a positive impact on society.
Inclusion in the Stanford–Elsevier Top 2% Scientists list represents recognition of the impact of academic research, assessed through international bibliometric indicators. The database is compiled by researchers led by John P. A. Ioannidis of Stanford University, using data provided by Scopus, Elsevier’s bibliographic database.
The 2026 update, published on October 7, covers researchers across 20 scientific fields and 174 subfields. The assessment takes into account the number of citations received by scientific publications, the Hirsch index (h-index), individual authors’ contributions, and other indicators of academic impact. The selection includes researchers ranked among the world’s top 100,000 based on their composite score or within the top 2% of their respective subfields.
According to her profile published by TOPSCINET, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi is included in the 2026 edition under Social Sciences, in the Political Science & Public Administration subfield, and is also associated with the International Relations subfield.
A second international recognition comes from The Notable People Project, an international biographical archive dedicated to identifying and documenting individuals whose achievements, ideas, and contributions have had a positive impact on society.
The profile dedicated to Alina Mungiu-Pippidi highlights her contributions to advancing the empirical study of corruption as a systemic governance problem, as well as her role in translating academic research into practical tools for assessing public integrity and into civic initiatives.
The profile emphasizes her work in the fields of good governance, democratization, and institutional development, both through academic research and through international projects and civil society initiatives.
Over the past several years, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi’s research has contributed to the development of international tools for assessing public integrity, including the Index of Public Integrity, as well as to major European projects examining the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies, transparency in public administration, and institutional accountability.
Her landmark publications include The Quest for Good Governance: How Societies Develop Control of Corruption (Cambridge University Press, 2015), which explores why some societies succeed in controlling corruption and making integrity the norm, and Europe’s Burden: Promoting Good Governance across Borders (Cambridge University Press, 2020), which examines the challenges of promoting good governance and combating corruption internationally.
Through her academic work, comparative research, and involvement in international projects, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi continues to contribute to the global debate on corruption, democracy, integrity, and the reform of public institutions.