Do Nobel Laureates Create Prize-Winning Networks? An Analysis of Collaborative Research in Physiology or Medicine

Abstract

Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine who received the Prize between 1969 and 2011 are compared to a matched group of scientists to examine productivity, impact, coauthorship and international collaboration patterns embedded within research networks. After matching for research domain, h-index, and year of first of publication, we compare bibliometric statistics and network measures. We find that the Laureates produce fewer papers but with higher average citations. The Laureates also produce more sole-authored papers both before and after winning the Prize. The Laureates have a lower number of coauthors across their entire careers than the matched group, but are equally collaborative on average. Further, we find no differences in international collaboration patterns. The Laureates coauthor network reveals significant differences from the non-Laureate network. Laureates are more likely to build bridges across a network when measuring by average degree, density, modularity, and communities. Both the Laureate and non-Laureate networks have “small world” properties, but the Laureates appear to exploit “structural holes” by reaching across the network in a brokerage style that may add social capital to the network. The dynamic may be making the network itself highly attractive and selective. These findings suggest new insights into the role "star scientists" in social networks and the production of scientific discoveries.

Ciência & Saúde Coletiva: análise da produção científica e redes colaborativas de pesquisa

“…In a similar study with Nobel Laureates and Non-Nobel Laureates, researchers found that although the laureates had a lower number of coauthors across their careers, they were as collaborative as non-laureates, and more likely to span a network to create a collaboration, positioning themselves for new discoveries 14 . The researchers posit that through their own visibility laureates can broker their network connections, and engage more frequently in activities that revel to them structural holes and opportunities for new knowledge development that keeps them on the forefront of scientific discovery 14 . Future research could include examination of productivity of networks and detailed examination of the specific partnerships within networks.…”

Existential risk, creativity & well-adapted science

“…Further work needs to be done to establish to what extent efforts akin to the Nobel Prizes, say, promote riskier scientific strategies. I'm no expert on any of the sciences that get Nobels, nor on the prizes themselves, but it would be interesting to consider what effects such high-impact 'heroic' awards in fact have on scientific communities (see, for instance, Wagner et al 2015).…”

Leveraging Citation Networks to Visualize Scholarly Influence Over Time

“…What this scholar referred to as "unfocused" scholarship could also be seen as diverse and boundary-spanning. Recent work has suggested that top-performing researchers form coauthorship networks that tend to be well connected and structured for bridging structural holes (Wagner et al, 2015); in this light, this interdisciplinary researcher may share characteristics with some of the world's most impactful scientists. This scholar enjoyed seeing his story visualized in this way and wanted to feature the graph on his personal website.…”