Prof. Dr. CEM IŞIK

Dr. Cem Işık is a Professor at Anadolu University. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Economics at Atatürk University. With a profound interest in various domains, Dr. Işık's research encompasses an array of critical areas including sustainability, energy economics, environmental economics, tourism economics, SDGs and ESG performance among others. His depth of knowledge and expertise is reflected in his extensive body of work, comprising about one hundred fifty research articles published in esteemed journals indexed in Web of Science. Some notable publications include contributions to renowned journals such as Energy Economics, Business Strategy and the Environement, Applied Energy, Energy Policy, Renewable Energy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Energy, Journal of Environmental Management, Sustainable Development, Resources Policy, Science of The Total Environment, Social Indicators Research, Gondwana Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Economics, Current Issues in Tourism, International Journal of Tourism Research, Sustainable Tourism, and Geoscience Frontiers among others. Dr. Işık has more than 20 years of teaching experience in different educational institutions. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to academia, Dr. Işık was honored to be listed among the world’s top 2% most influential Scientists (Single & Career) by Stanford University in 2022, 2023, 2024 (1th from Anadolu University and 46th from Türkiye) and 2025 (1th from Anadolu University and 51th from Türkiye). He is also ranked among the top 0.05% of scholars worldwide according to the most recent 2025 ScholarGPS rankings (318th in Social Sciences and 150th in the field of economics). Dr. Işık serves as an associate editor and editor in chief in “the Environment, Development and Sustainability and Journal of Ekonomi". Furthermore, Dr. Işık has actively contributed to the scholarly community by serving as a guest editor for several prestigious Web of Science-indexed journals.

Web of Science (WOS) Topic Creator / Research Project 1

Sustainability Uncertanity Index / ESGUI

Data Index Contribution to WOS 

·         The ESG-Related Uncertainty Index (ESGUI)—also known as the Sustainability Uncertainty Index—was developed by Serdar Ongan, Ismet Gocer, and Cem Isik. Notably, it is the first dataset created by Turkish researchers to be featured on the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) website.

Publication
Ongan, S., Gocer, I., & Isik, C. (2025). Introducing the New ESG-Based Sustainability Uncertainty Index (ESGUI). Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3351

Dataset: https://www.policyuncertainty.com/sustainability_index.html

Web of Science (WOS) Topic Creator / Research Project 2

Environment Governance Policy Uncertanity / EGPU –

Data Index Contribution to WOS & Chinese Academy

·         EGPU index captures the frequency and intensity of discussions surrounding environmental policy uncertainty in major Chinese newspapers, providing a time-series measure of policy-related uncertainty from 2000 to 2023.

Publication

Wu, R., Zeng, H., Yan, J., & Işık, C. (2025). Introducing the environmental governance policy uncertainty (EGPU) for China. Journal of Environmental Management, 386, 125748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125748

Dataset: https://github.com/wuran030/EGPU

Web of Science (WOS) Topic Creator / Research Project 3

Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ECON - ESG)

Contribution to WOS 

·         A 2024 academic article by Cem Işık and Serdar Ongan (with Hasibul Islam) introduces ECON-ESG as a composite sustainability concept that adds the economic dimension (ECON) to traditional Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors.

Publication

Işık, C., Ongan, S., Aydın, R., & İmamoğlu, İ. K. (2025). Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ECON‐ESG) Strategies For Sustainable Development: Theory and a Holistic Evidence From Germany. Business Strategy and the Environment.

https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70342

 Işık, C., Ongan, S., Islam, H., Pinzon, S., & Jabeen, G. (2024). Navigating sustainability: Unveiling the interconnected dynamics of ESG factors and SDGs in BRICS‐11. Sustainable Development, 32(5), 5437-5451. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2977

Işık, C., Ongan, S., Islam, H., Balsalobre-Lorente, D., & Sharif, A. (2024). ECON-ESG factors on energy efficiency: Fostering sustainable development in ECON-growth-paradox countries. Gondwana Research, 135, 103-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121177

Işık, C., Ongan, S., Islam, H., Sharif, A., & Balsalobre-Lorente, D. (2024). Evaluating the effects of ECON-ESG on load capacity factor in G7 countries. Journal of Environmental Management, 360, 121177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2024.07.020

Işık, C., Ongan, S., Islam, H., & Menegaki, A. N. (2024). A roadmap for sustainable global supply chain distribution: Exploring the interplay of ECON-ESG factors, technological advancement and SDGs on natural resources. Resources Policy, 95, 105114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105114

Awards and Achievements

·         December 2025 – Highly Ranked Scholar (Top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide; 318th of Social Sciences, 150th of Economics in the world) – ScholarGPS

·         November 2025 – Scientific Incentive Award – Atatürk University

·         October 2025 – The World’s Top 2% of Scientists (Single recent year impact, 1st from Anadolu University, 51st in Turkey) – Stanford University

·         October 2025 – The World’s Top 2% of Scientists (Career-long impact) – Stanford University

·         September 2025 – TÜBİTAK International Scientific Publication Incentive (2017–2025) – TÜBİTAK

·         June 2025 – Letter of Appreciation – UNEC, Azerbaijan

·         November 2024 – Scientific Incentive Award – Atatürk University

·         June 2025 – Outstanding Achievement Award – Anadolu University

·         October 2024 – Outstanding Achievement Award – Anadolu University

·         October 2024 – R&D, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Award – Anadolu University

·         September 2024 – The World’s Top 2% of Scientists (Career-long impact) – Stanford University

·         September 2024 – The World’s Top 2% of Scientists (Single recent year impact, 1st from Anadolu University, 46th in Turkey) – Stanford University

·         November 2023 – The World’s Top 2% of Scientists (Single recent year impact, 2nd from Anadolu University, top 100 in Turkey) – Stanford University

·         October 2023 – Outstanding Achievement Award – Anadolu University

·         November 2022 – Outstanding Achievement Award – Anadolu University

·         November 2022 – The World’s Top 2% of Scientists (Single recent year impact) – Stanford University

·         October 2021 – Outstanding Achievement Award – Anadolu University

·         November 2020 – Article Performance Award – Anadolu University

·         June 2018 – Scientific Research Incentive Award, First Place  – Atatürk University

·         May 2016 – Scientific Research Incentive Award, Second Place – Atatürk University

·         May 2012 – Scientific Research Incentive Award, Third Place – Atatürk University

·         May 2011 – Scientific Research Incentive Award, Third Place – Atatürk University