Recently, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) announced the 2024 list of Highly Cited Researchers, and 30 scholars from the College of Civil Engineering were honored on the "2024 CNKI Highly Cited Researchers" list. Among them, six scholars—WANG Jingfeng, WANG Zhiliang, WANG Mingwu, JIN Juliang, ZHANG Libing, and ZHANG Chunju—were selected as "2024 CNKI Top 1% Highly Cited Researchers." Additionally, 24 scholars, including ZHANG Zhenhua, were named "2024 CNKI Top 5% Highly Cited Researchers."

The China Academic Literature Evaluation and Research Center of CNKI ("CNKI Evaluation Center") launched its first objective evaluation of scholarly academic influence in 2024, based on domestic academic journal papers and conference papers indexed by CNKI, to select the "2024 CNKI Highly Cited Researchers." The selection aims to objectively and scientifically evaluate and commend scholars who have produced prolific research results and demonstrated significant academic influence in China over the past decade. The primary evaluation metric used is the weighted total PCSI (Paper Citation Standardized Index) of the author’s published papers. To be included, a paper’s PCSI must exceed the theoretical average, with weights assigned according to the number of co-authors and the order of authorship.

The criteria for selection are as follows: from approximately 3.35 million authors who published at least one qualifying paper in the past decade (2014-2023), the "2024 CNKI Highly Cited Researchers" list identifies two categories—the Top 1% and Top 5%. The Top 1% category includes 30,000 scholars (with a baseline PCSI value of 31.016), while the Top 5% category includes 89,000 scholars (with a baseline PCSI value of 10.297). Scholars on the list must meet three conditions simultaneously: their total PCSI over the past decade must exceed the baseline value, they must have published at least five qualifying papers, and they must have at least one high-impact paper.