Senior researcher, head of data science, and coordinator of the Information & Openness focal area. Nees Jan's work focuses on studying and developing infrastructures, algorithms, and tools to support research assessment, science policy, and scholarly communication.

More information about Nees Jan van Eck

Nees Jan van Eck is senior researcher and head of data science at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, where he leads data infrastructure projects and coordinates the Information & Openness focal area. He is also a senior research fellow affiliated with the Research on Research Institute (RoRI).

Drawing on extensive technical expertise and deep knowledge of diverse scientometric data sources and tools, Nees Jan’s work focuses on studying and developing infrastructures, algorithms, and tools to support research assessment, science policy, and scholarly communication. A central theme in his work is understanding and improving how research is organized, evaluated, and supported. With a strong interest in transparent and democratic decision-making in science, he emphasizes the importance of open and equitable access to research information.

Nees Jan is the architect and lead developer of the CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition, the first fully transparent worldwide university ranking based on open and reproducible data. He is also the developer of VOSviewer, a widely used software tool for analyzing and visualizing bibliometric data, which has been mentioned in more than 50,000 publications.

Throughout his career, Nees Jan has been involved in numerous bibliometric research projects and training courses and has published more than 100 publications. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Data and Information Science, Scientometrics, and Quantitative Science Studies. Previously, he held the role of Editor Brief Communications at the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (2018–2024) and has served as a reviewer and committee member for various international conferences. Additionally, he is a member of the advisory boards of OpenAlex, Scilit, and the SURF Open Research Information program. From 2015 to 2023, he served as an elected board member of the International Society for Informetrics and Scientometrics.

Publications