IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/hig/fsight/v6y2012i3p40-49.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors Influencing Research Performance in Higher Education: An Empirical Investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Johann Jacob
  • Moktar Lamari

    (Centre d’expertise et de recherche en evaluation de programmes (CREXE), Ecole nationale d’administration publique, Universite du Quebec, Canada)

Abstract

Universities play an increasingly significant role in producing new knowledge. The relationship between research inputs (grants, infrastructure spending, training of researchers) and research outputs (number of publications, citation, impact) emerges, therefore, as a strategic issue for public decision-making on funding in support of innovation and the development of competencies. Despite the abundance of empirical works on the question of researcher productivity, there is a paucity of studies dealing with this issue in the context of higher eductaion. This paper seeks to identify the factors that explain research productivity in higher education, using as a case study, the universities in Quebec-Canada. The main hypothesis is that productivity in scientific research is significantly influenced by the volume and origin of the funding sources mobilized to support scientific research performance. We analyzed data on 194 researchers for the period of 2001–2008. Individual publications in referred journals (number of publications, fractioned publications, citations, impacts) were used as indicators for research productivity. Factor analysis and linear regression served as tools for evaluation. Our findings imply that the volume of funding is not as influential as supposed. We revealed that age and language (Francophone versus Anglophone) of university instruction, and, in addition, the origin of funding do affect researcher productivity. Generally speaking, young researchers, as well as those affiliated with Anglophone or/and large universities tend to produce more publications. The gender of researcher does not seem to significantly influence the productivity variables. The results of our analysis should motivate program evaluators who assess the benefits of public funding andintervention to support academic research. It is essential thatevaluators do not only see these benefits in terms of number of publications produced, but also through the prism of publication quality (citations and outcomes generated) as well as individual and organizational attributes. In this way, those designing interventions to support research will benefit from the fully-fledged information necessary to improve program effectiveness. Note: Downloadable document is in Russian.

Suggested Citation

  • Johann Jacob & Moktar Lamari, 2012. "Factors Influencing Research Performance in Higher Education: An Empirical Investigation," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 6(3), pages 40-49.
    • Handle: RePEc:hig:fsight:v:6:y:2012:i:3:p:40-49
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://foresight-journal.hse.ru/data/2013/09/23/1279019442/04-Lamari-40-50.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:adr:anecst:y:1998:i:49-50:p:05 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Wolfgang Glänzel & Henk F. Moed, 2002. "Journal impact measures in bibliometric research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 53(2), pages 171-193, February.
    3. Carayol, Nicolas & Matt, Mireille, 2006. "Individual and collective determinants of academic scientists' productivity," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 55-72, March.
    4. Marinova, Dora & Newman, Peter, 2008. "The changing research funding regime in Australia and academic productivity," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 283-291.
    5. Rodrigo Costas & Thed N. van Leeuwen & María Bordons, 2010. "A bibliometric classificatory approach for the study and assessment of research performance at the individual level: The effects of age on productivity and impact," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(8), pages 1564-1581, August.
    6. repec:adr:anecst:y:1998:i:49-50:p:07 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Maryann P. Feldman & Frank R. Lichtenberg, 1998. "The Impact and Organization of Publicly-Funded Research and development in the European Community," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 49-50, pages 199-222.
    8. Diana Hicks & Hiroyuki Tomizawa & Yoshiko Saitoh & Shinichi Kobayashi, 2004. "Bibliometric techniques in the evaluation of federally funded research in the United States," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 76-86, August.
    9. Auranen, Otto & Nieminen, Mika, 2010. "University research funding and publication performance--An international comparison," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 822-834, July.
    10. Rodrigo Costas & Thed N. van Leeuwen & María Bordons, 2010. "A bibliometric classificatory approach for the study and assessment of research performance at the individual level: The effects of age on productivity and impact," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(8), pages 1564-1581, August.
    11. Bozeman, Barry & Gaughan, Monica, 2007. "Impacts of grants and contracts on academic researchers' interactions with industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 694-707, June.
    12. Defazio, Daniela & Lockett, Andy & Wright, Mike, 2009. "Funding incentives, collaborative dynamics and scientific productivity: Evidence from the EU framework program," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 293-305, March.
    13. James D. Adams & Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Research Productivity in a System of Universities," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 49-50, pages 127-162.
    14. Vincent Larivière & Benoit Macaluso & Éric Archambault & Yves Gingras, 2010. "Which scientific elites? On the concentration of research funds, publications and citations," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 45-53, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ronald Inglehart & Tatiana Karabchuk & Stanislav Moiseev & Marina Nikitina, 2013. "International Research Laboratories in Russia: Factors Underlying Scientists’ Satisfaction with their Work," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 7(4), pages 44-59.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ronald Inglehart & Tatiana Karabchuk & Stanislav Moiseev & Marina Nikitina, 2013. "International Research Laboratories in Russia: Factors Underlying Scientists’ Satisfaction with their Work," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 7(4), pages 44-59.
    2. Nabil Amara & Réjean Landry & Norrin Halilem, 2015. "What can university administrators do to increase the publication and citation scores of their faculty members?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(2), pages 489-530, May.
    3. Annita Nugent & Ho Fai Chan & Uwe Dulleck, 2022. "Government funding of university-industry collaboration: exploring the impact of targeted funding on university patent activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 29-73, January.
    4. Mehdi Rhaiem & Nabil Amara, 2020. "Determinants of research efficiency in Canadian business schools: evidence from scholar-level data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(1), pages 53-99, October.
    5. Abramo, Giovanni & Cicero, Tindaro & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea, 2012. "The dispersion of research performance within and between universities as a potential indicator of the competitive intensity in higher education systems," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 155-168.
    6. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo & Flavia Costa, 2011. "Research productivity: Are higher academic ranks more productive than lower ones?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(3), pages 915-928, September.
    7. Alona Zharova & Wolfgang K. Härdle & Stefan Lessmann, 2017. "Is Scientific Performance a Function of Funds?," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2017-028, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
    8. Grimpe, Christoph, 2012. "Extramural research grants and scientists’ funding strategies: Beggars cannot be choosers?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1448-1460.
    9. Lindahl, Jonas, 2023. "Conscientiousness predicts doctoral students’ research productivity," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    10. Rajeev Goel & Christoph Grimpe, 2013. "Active versus passive academic networking: evidence from micro-level data," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 116-134, April.
    11. 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.
    12. Zhigang Hu & Chaomei Chen & Zeyuan Liu, 2014. "How are collaboration and productivity correlated at various career stages of scientists?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1553-1564, November.
    13. Mike Thelwall & Nabeil Maflahi, 2020. "Academic collaboration rates and citation associations vary substantially between countries and fields," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(8), pages 968-978, August.
    14. Zharova, Alona & Härdle, Wolfgang Karl & Lessmann, Stefan, 2023. "Data-driven support for policy and decision-making in university research management: A case study from Germany," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(1), pages 353-368.
    15. Edwin Horlings & Thomas Gurney, 2013. "Search strategies along the academic lifecycle," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(3), pages 1137-1160, March.
    16. Belén Álvarez-Bornstein & Adrián A. Díaz-Faes & María Bordons, 2019. "What characterises funded biomedical research? Evidence from a basic and a clinical domain," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 805-825, May.
    17. Marek Kwiek & Wojciech Roszka, 2022. "Academic vs. biological age in research on academic careers: a large-scale study with implications for scientifically developing systems," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3543-3575, June.
    18. Rodrigo Costas & María Bordons, 2011. "Do age and professional rank influence the order of authorship in scientific publications? Some evidence from a micro-level perspective," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(1), pages 145-161, July.
    19. Claus-Christian Carbon, 2011. "The Carbon_h-Factor: Predicting Individuals' Research Impact at Early Stages of Their Career," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(12), pages 1-7, December.
    20. Rodrigo Costas & Thed N. Leeuwen & María Bordons, 2012. "Referencing patterns of individual researchers: Do top scientists rely on more extensive information sources?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(12), pages 2433-2450, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    impact factor; bibliometric indicators; university research; research funding; research productivity; impact evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hig:fsight:v:6:y:2012:i:3:p:40-49. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Nataliya Gavrilicheva or Mikhail Salazkin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hsecoru.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.