IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v7y2020i1d10.1057_s41599-020-0521-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In the race for knowledge, is human capital the most essential element?

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Sinay

    (Federal University of the Rio de Janeiro State—UNIRIO
    University of the Sunshine Coast)

  • Rodney William (Bill) Carter

    (University of the Sunshine Coast)

  • Maria Cristina Fogliatti Sinay

    (Private consultant)

Abstract

Clarivate Analytics, managers of Web of Science, publishes an annual listing of highly cited researchers. The opening sentence of the 2019 report asks “Who would contest that in the race for knowledge, is human capital that is most essential?”. They go on to state that “talent—including intelligence, creativity, ambition, and social competence (where needed)—outpaces other capacities such as access to funding and facilities”. These contradict previous findings, according to which other factors are possibly more influential than human capital. Using Clarivate Analytics’ database for 2018, we investigated which factors are most relevant in development of scientific knowledge. Rather than human capital alone, we found that language, gender, funding, and facilities introduce bias to assessments and possibly prevent talent and discoveries from emerging. We also found that the profile of the highly cited scholars, as established by Clarivate Analytics, is so narrow that it may compromise the validity of scientific knowledge, because it is biased towards the perception and interests of male scholars affiliated with very-highly developed countries where English is commonly spoken and of their sponsors. This highly cited scholars accounted for 76% of the random sample analyzed, absent were women from Latin-America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and scholars affiliated with institutions in low-human-developed countries. Also, 98% of the published research came from institutions located in very-highly developed countries. These findings provide evidence that challenges the view that ‘talent is the primary driver of scientific advancement’. This is important because search engines, such as Web of Science, can modify their algorithms to ensure the work of scholars that does not fit the currently dominant profile can have their importance increased so that their findings can more equitably contribute to knowledge development. This, in turn, will increase the validity of scientific inquiry.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Sinay & Rodney William (Bill) Carter & Maria Cristina Fogliatti Sinay, 2020. "In the race for knowledge, is human capital the most essential element?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:7:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-020-0521-5
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-020-0521-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-020-0521-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-020-0521-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joshua L Rosenbloom & Donna K Ginther & Ted Juhl & Joseph A Heppert, 2015. "The Effects of Research & Development Funding on Scientific Productivity: Academic Chemistry, 1990-2009," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2013. "Fishing for Complementarities: Competitive Research Funding and Research Productivity," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201318, University of Turin.
    3. Jacob, Brian A. & Lefgren, Lars, 2011. "The impact of research grant funding on scientific productivity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1168-1177.
    4. Richard Van Noorden & Dalmeet Singh Chawla, 2019. "Hundreds of extreme self-citing scientists revealed in new database," Nature, Nature, vol. 572(7771), pages 578-579, August.
    5. Sabrina J. Mayer & Justus M. K. Rathmann, 2018. "How does research productivity relate to gender? Analyzing gender differences for multiple publication dimensions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(3), pages 1663-1693, December.
    6. Mattia Cattaneo & Michele Meoli & Andrea Signori, 2016. "Performance-based funding and university research productivity: the moderating effect of university legitimacy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 85-104, February.
    7. David Adam, 2002. "The counting house," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6873), pages 726-729, February.
    8. Diana Hicks & Paul Wouters & Ludo Waltman & Sarah de Rijcke & Ismael Rafols, 2015. "Bibliometrics: The Leiden Manifesto for research metrics," Nature, Nature, vol. 520(7548), pages 429-431, April.
    9. Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2017. "Fishing for complementarities: Research grants and research productivity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-38.
    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. Elena Popkova & Aleksei V. Bogoviz & Bruno S. Sergi, 2021. "Towards digital society management and ‘capitalism 4.0’ in contemporary Russia," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Lauranne Chaignon & Domingo Docampo & Daniel Egret, 2023. "In search of a scientific elite: highly cited researchers (HCR) in France," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(10), pages 5801-5827, October.

    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. Daniele Rotolo & Michael Hopkins & Nicola Grassano, 2023. "Do funding sources complement or substitute? Examining the impact of cancer research publications," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 74(1), pages 50-66, January.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Ryazanova, Olga & Jaskiene, Jolanta, 2022. "Managing individual research productivity in academic organizations: A review of the evidence and a path forward," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    5. 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.
    6. Nafukho, Fredrick Muyia & Wekullo, Caroline S. & Muyia, Machuma Helen, 2019. "Examining research productivity of faculty in selected leading public universities in Kenya," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 44-51.
    7. Rachel Heyard & Hanna Hottenrott, 2021. "The value of research funding for knowledge creation and dissemination: A study of SNSF Research Grants," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-16, December.
    8. 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.
    9. Véronique Schaeffer & Sıla Öcalan-Özel & Julien Pénin, 2020. "The complementarities between formal and informal channels of university–industry knowledge transfer: a longitudinal approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 31-55, February.
    10. 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.
    11. Marco Cozzi, 2020. "Public Funding of Research and Grant Proposals in the Social Sciences: Empirical Evidence from Canada," Department Discussion Papers 1809, Department of Economics, University of Victoria.
    12. Munari, Federico & Toschi, Laura, 2021. "The impact of public funding on science valorisation: an analysis of the ERC Proof-of-Concept Programme," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    13. Roman Fudickar & Hanna Hottenrott & Cornelia Lawson, 2018. "What’s the price of academic consulting? Effects of public and private sector consulting on academic research," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(4), pages 699-722.
    14. Diana W. Thomas & Michael D. Thomas, 2020. "Behavioral symmetry, rent seeking, and the Republic of Science," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 443-459, June.
    15. Hua Cheng & Shiqian Huang & Yinhong Yu & Zhiying Zhang & Meifen Jiang, 2023. "The 2011 Collaborative Innovation Plan, University-Industry Collaboration and Achievement Transformation of Universities: Evidence from China," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 1249-1274, June.
    16. Fudickar, Roman & Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2016. "What's the price of consulting? Effects of public and private sector consulting on academic research," DICE Discussion Papers 212, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    17. Dzieżyc, Maciej & Kazienko, Przemysław, 2022. "Effectiveness of research grants funded by European Research Council and Polish National Science Centre," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    18. Perkmann, Markus & Salandra, Rossella & Tartari, Valentina & McKelvey, Maureen & Hughes, Alan, 2021. "Academic engagement: A review of the literature 2011-2019," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    19. Kazuki Nakajima & Kazuyuki Shudo & Naoki Masuda, 2023. "Higher-order rich-club phenomenon in collaborative research grant networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2429-2446, April.
    20. Quentin Plantec & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2021. "Another way to get the Nobel Prize: the role of the industry in the emergence of new scientific breakthroughs," Post-Print halshs-03278662, HAL.

    More about this item

    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:pal:palcom:v:7:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-020-0521-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    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.