Two decades of publications reveal research institutions becoming more alike worldwide
Where researchers go, their knowledge goes. And that shapes where innovation happens. "Recruiting researchers is one way institutions gain new knowledge and steer their research in particular directions," explains Vito D. P. Servedio, senior scientist at CSH.
Between 2000 and 2020, scientists working at 3,965 institutions worldwide published more than 25 million scientific papers. Researchers at these institutions increasingly aligned their research topics, according to a study published in the journal Scientometrics. Senior scientist Vito D. P. Servedio from the Center for Social Hormones (CSH) was surprised by this finding, as he expected institutions to develop more distinct research profiles.
The study reveals that new hires typically fit well with the existing research profile of their host institution. On a scale from 0 (no overlap) to 1 (identical topics), the median topic alignment between new hires and their new employers is 0.84. Prestigious institutions have a higher median topic alignment with new hires. Collaboration played a role in this phenomenon, but the direction of causality remains unclear.
The study also shows that top-performing institutions vary in their hiring patterns, with some bringing in highly specialized researchers and others favoring complementary topics. This diversity in hiring strategies highlights the complexity of managing research institutions and the need for tailored approaches to achieve research goals.
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