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Scientific prizes and the extraordinary growth of scientific topics

Author

Listed:
  • Ching Jin

    (Northwestern University
    Northwestern University)

  • Yifang Ma

    (Northwestern University
    Southern University of Science and Technology)

  • Brian Uzzi

    (Northwestern University
    Northwestern University)

Abstract

Fast growing scientific topics have famously been key harbingers of the new frontiers of science, yet, large-scale analyses of their genesis and impact are rare. We investigated one possible factor connected with a topic’s extraordinary growth: scientific prizes. Our longitudinal analysis of nearly all recognized prizes worldwide and over 11,000 scientific topics from 19 disciplines indicates that topics associated with a scientific prize experience extraordinary growth in productivity, impact, and new entrants. Relative to matched non-prizewinning topics, prizewinning topics produce 40% more papers and 33% more citations, retain 55% more scientists, and gain 37 and 47% more new entrants and star scientists, respectively, in the first five-to-ten years after the prize. Funding do not account for a prizewinning topic’s growth. Rather, growth is positively related to the degree to which the prize is discipline-specific, conferred for recent research, or has prize money. These findings reveal new dynamics behind scientific innovation and investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Ching Jin & Yifang Ma & Brian Uzzi, 2021. "Scientific prizes and the extraordinary growth of scientific topics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-25712-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25712-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Shengzhi & Huang, Yong & Bu, Yi & Luo, Zhuoran & Lu, Wei, 2023. "Disclosing the interactive mechanism behind scientists’ topic selection behavior from the perspective of the productivity and the impact," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    2. Zhu, Wanying & Jin, Ching & Ma, Yifang & Xu, Cong, 2023. "Earlier recognition of scientific excellence enhances future achievements and promotes persistence," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    3. Lu Liu & Benjamin F. Jones & Brian Uzzi & Dashun Wang, 2023. "Data, measurement and empirical methods in the science of science," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(7), pages 1046-1058, July.

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