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An examination of the contributions of young scientists in new fields

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  • K. Brad Wray

    (State University of New York)

Abstract

I examine whether or not new scientific specialties present young scientists with better opportunities to make significant discoveries than established specialties by examining a series of significant discoveries in the first 22 years of the field of bacteriology. I found that it was middle aged scientists, not young scientists, who were responsible for a disproportionate number of significant discoveries. I argue that in order to make significant discoveries scientists need to work their way into the center of the social network of a scientific research community. Only then will they have access to the material and social resources necessary to make such discoveries.

Suggested Citation

  • K. Brad Wray, 2004. "An examination of the contributions of young scientists in new fields," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 61(1), pages 117-128, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:61:y:2004:i:1:d:10.1023_b:scie.0000037367.99073.bb
    DOI: 10.1023/B:SCIE.0000037367.99073.bb
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Howard D. White & Barry Wellman & Nancy Nazer, 2004. "Does citation reflect social structure?: Longitudinal evidence from the “Globenet” interdisciplinary research group," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 55(2), pages 111-126, January.
    2. Diamond, Arthur M., 1980. "Age and the Acceptance of Cliometrics," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 838-841, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yves Gingras & Vincent Larivière & Benoît Macaluso & Jean-Pierre Robitaille, 2008. "The Effects of Aging on Researchers' Publication and Citation Patterns," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(12), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Kirstin R W Matthews & Kara M Calhoun & Nathan Lo & Vivian Ho, 2011. "The Aging of Biomedical Research in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(12), pages 1-6, December.
    3. John P A Ioannidis & Kevin W Boyack & Richard Klavans, 2014. "Estimates of the Continuously Publishing Core in the Scientific Workforce," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-10, July.
    4. Ashkan Ebadi & Andrea Schiffauerova, 2016. "How to boost scientific production? A statistical analysis of research funding and other influencing factors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1093-1116, March.
    5. Benjamin Jones & E.J. Reedy & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2014. "Age and Scientific Genius," NBER Working Papers 19866, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Leila Tahmooresnejad & Catherine Beaudry & Andrea Schiffauerova, 2015. "The role of public funding in nanotechnology scientific production: Where Canada stands in comparison to the United States," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 753-787, January.
    7. Beaudry, Catherine & Allaoui, Sedki, 2012. "Impact of public and private research funding on scientific production: The case of nanotechnology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1589-1606.
    8. K. Brad Wray, 2009. "Did professionalization afford better opportunities for young scientists?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(3), pages 757-764, December.

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