One size does not fit all: the influence of individual and contextual factors on research excellence in academia

Abstract

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The transformative power of values-enacted scholarship

“…The transformative power of a values-enacted approach If, as we have suggested, a first step in deepening the meaning of scholarly excellence is to realign our systems of evaluation with an explicit understanding of the values that shape our scholarship, we are now in a position to recognize that "quality" scholarship simply is intentionally enacting the values that give our work purpose. Notions of "excellence" when it comes to research evaluation have long been discussed and often contested (Adams and Gurney, 2014;Bernal and Villalpando, 2002;Brown and Leigh, 2018;Carli et al, 2019;Cremonini et al 2018;Hamann, 2016;Hazelkorn, 2015;Hester, 2003;Hicks, 2012;Johnston, 2008;Kalpazidou Schmidt and Graversen, 2018;Kraemer-Mbula et al, 2020;Kwok, 2013;Ndofirepi, 2017;Oancea and Furlong, 2007;Thelwall and Delgado, 2015;Tijssen, 2003;Tijssen and Kraemer-Mbula, 2017;Vessuri et al, 2013). From Bill Readings' The University in Ruins (1997) and Michèle Lamont's How Professors Think (2010) to the more recent "Excellence R Us" article (Moore et al, 2016), we have repeated reminders that excellence often itself serves as a false proxy for evaluating scholarly work and institutions.…”

The Effect of Service on Research Performance: A Study on Italian Academics in Management

“…Although no shared interpretation has emerged yet concerning the interplay between the various knowledge transfer activities, teaching included, it is remarkable how academic citizenship has been sidelined in the discourse on higher education (Thompson et al, 2005;Macfarlane, 2007Macfarlane, , 2011Carli et al, 2018). Academic citizenship represents, alongside teaching and research, a pillar of university functioning: these three core sets of activities have been referred to as the 'tripartite vision' (Macfarlane, 2011) or as the 'contested triad' (Pifer and Baker, 2013) of academic profession, depending on whether they are viewed as complementary or substitute for each other.…”

“…From a psychological point of view, this trend can be framed within the search for self-continuity as a means to be socially validated by others: repeating well-established behaviors enables self-verification, thus reinforcing the professional identity in this case (Ashforth, 2000;Swann et al, 1987). Specifically, scholars who have formerly accomplished a good publication record tend to remain productive over time (Carli et al, 2018;Salter et al, 2017). A cumulative advantage for scientific recognition has been claimed for the hard sciences (Bonaccorsi et al, 2017): researchers who have a distinguished publication record are endowed with more resources, such as laboratories, equipment, and team members, which sustain their research effort and achievements over time.…”

“…A context that at different levels fosters research through the allocation of appropriate resources (e.g., funding, administrative staff, support to project bid elaboration) and explicitly rewards it is expected to lead to better research performance (Salter et al, 2017). The orientation to research of the context in which faculty are nested can exert a positive influence at various levels, varying from the university to which one belongs to the department to which one is affiliated, to the colleagues of the same discipline who operate in the same department (Carli et al, 2018). Some studies conducted on PhD socialization processes help grasp the importance of the social environment on research achievements.…”

Can we be all in one?

“…Among individual features, former behavioral patterns influence the actual enactment of academic citizenship. Individuals in fact tend to stick to and reiterate behaviors in which they have achieved positive outcomes, since these latter are a source of self-enhancement and self-continuity, and for the same reason they tend to refrain from tasks and behaviors in which they have not exceled before ( Carli, Tagliaventi, & Cutolo, 2018). Along this line of reasoning, research-focused effort, expressed through previous research performance, previous involvement in visiting scholarship, previous research awards, and previous network of international collaborations, reduces the willingness to undertake service as it is a diversion from consolidated courses of action.…”