Work

Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time?

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: We examine how the premature death of eminent life scientists alters the vitality of their fields. While the flow of articles by collaborators into affected fields decreases after the death of a star scientist, the flow of articles by non-collaborators increases markedly. This surge in contributions from outsiders draws upon a different scientific corpus and is disproportionately likely to be highly cited. While outsiders appear reluctant to challenge leadership within a field when the star is alive, the loss of a luminary provides an opportunity for fields to evolve in new directions that advance the frontier of knowledge within them.

Source: American Economic Review

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20161574

Authors: Pierre Azoulay, Christian Fons-Rosen, Joshua S. Graff Zivin

Institutions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Merced, University of California San Diego

Language: English

Topic: scientometrics and bibliometrics research

Subfield: Library and Information Sciences

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Aging

Award: Innovation in an Aging Society