Very little is known about the characteristics of highly cited scientists in Africa. This is unfortunate as highly cited researchers are seen as key drivers of knowledge production for their countries and as important conduits of frontier knowledge into the local academic research community and society in general. In this article, we combined bibliometric and survey data to identify which researchers are producing highly cited research in Africa, and we employed econometric analysis to understand which characteristics are associated with the likelihood of being highly cited. Overall, our results suggest that, on average, researchers who produce more scientific publications in a year, collaborate more often with non-African partners, and do their highest qualification in an Anglo-Saxon university (the USA, the UK, Canada, or Australia), have a higher probability of producing highly cited research. We conclude by arguing about the duality of our results. On the one hand, collaborating with frontier universities seems to be a crucial mechanism that allows researchers to develop scientific capabilities. On the other hand, policy makers should be aware that research assessment in African countries should go beyond measuring scientific impact in the academic community. Otherwise, incentives will be in place to stimulate winners that are already well connected with the global scientific elite.

中文翻译：

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非洲高被引研究人员的特征

关于非洲高被引科学家的特征知之甚少。不幸的是，被高引用的研究人员被视为本国知识生产的主要驱动力，并且是前沿知识通向当地学术研究社区和整个社会的重要渠道。在本文中，我们结合了文献计量学和调查数据来确定哪些研究人员在非洲进行了高度引用的研究，并采用计量经济学分析来了解哪些特征与被高度引用的可能性有关。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，平均而言，研究人员每年会发表更多的科学出版物，与非非洲合作伙伴的合作会更频繁，并且在盎格鲁撒克逊大学（美国，英国，加拿大或澳大利亚），产生被引用率较高的研究的可能性更高。最后，我们讨论了结果的二重性。一方面，与前沿大学合作似乎是使研究人员发展科学能力的关键机制。另一方面，政策制定者应意识到，非洲国家的研究评估不应仅仅局限于衡量学术界对科学的影响。否则，将采取激励措施来激励已经与全球科学精英建立良好联系的获奖者。政策制定者应意识到，非洲国家的研究评估不应仅仅局限于衡量学术界的科学影响。否则，将采取激励措施来激励已经与全球科学精英建立良好联系的获奖者。政策制定者应意识到，非洲国家的研究评估不应仅仅局限于衡量学术界的科学影响。否则，将采取激励措施来激励已经与全球科学精英建立良好联系的获奖者。