Scientific performance should not be measured by a one-dimensional metric such as publication, since it is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. A quantitative analysis of the activities of research groups in three scientific fields demonstrates in particular the importance of sufficient numbers of PhD graduates and of contributions to the infrastructure of the scientific community, in terms of editorships or memberships of boards, etc. The results of a quantitative analysis are largely confirmed by a parallel qualitative investigation; however, both approaches complement each other by highlighting different aspects. For example, the qualitative approach conveys explicitly the demand structure for intermediary and final outputs in the qualitative approach that interlinks the activities of different research units. The results show that it is important for science policy to set appropriate incentives for all dimensions of scientific activities, i.e. not publication output exclusively, as this entails considerable hazard of distortion, endangering the sustainability of scientific research

In this paper the relationship between knowledge production and the structure of research networks in two scientific fields is assessed. We investigate whether knowledge production corresponds positively or negatively with different types of social network structure. We show that academic fields generate knowledge in different ways and that within the fields, different types of networks act as a stimulant for knowledge generation.

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In the international field of visa policies, states observe how other states act in terms of global mobility control or the facilitation of wanted cross-border mobility. But towards whom do they orient themselves? And what drives nation states to cooperate with others and grant their citizens visa-free travel or not? To tackle these questions, we conceptualise visa waiver agreements as positive relations between two states. A new data collection 'Visa Network Data ' (1969/2010) provides information on all visa waiver agreements worldwide. By means of social network analysis (blockmodelling), we analyse the global structure of the network of nations in this policy field as well as its change over time. In the centre of the network we find evidence for the existence of a global model at which many others orient themselves. However, a second distinct position in the network shows a high degree of stability: Autocratic states that do not want to be involved in the exchange of these bilateral relations. ARTICLE HISTORY

This article describes patterns of scientific growth that emerge in response to major research accomplishments in instrumentation and the discovery of new matter. Using two Nobel Prize‐winning contributions, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the discovery of Buckminsterfullerenes (BUF), we examine the growth of follow‐up research via citation networks at the author and subdiscipline level. A longitudinal network analysis suggests that structure, cohesiveness, and interdisciplinarity vary considerably with the type of breakthrough and over time. Scientific progress appears to be multifaceted, including not only theoretical advances but also the discovery of new instrumentation and new matter. In addition, we argue that scientific growth does not necessarily lead to the formation of new specialties or new subdisciplines. Rather, we observe the emergence of a research community formed at the intersection of subdisciplinary boundaries.

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