Abstract
This paper provides an analysis of the relationship between research performance and individual characteristics (e.g., career path information) of researchers, based on information provided in the curriculum vitaes of 565 excellent researchers within the life sciences and medical sciences fields in Japan. I specifically analyzed the relationship between the experiences of practical physicians and research performance. As a result, I found that the experience as a practical physician had a statistically positive relationship with the number of research papers, but there was not a significant relationship with the number of citations. Moreover, the diversity of a researcher’s career related significantly to the number of citations and patents. An employment experience at a young age with a company or independent administrative agency had a significant and positive relationship with number of coauthors. However, a significant relationship between work experience in a foreign country and research performance was not observed.
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Notes
Clinical fields were classified as internal medicine and surgery.
Research activity includes collecting data and information associating research, data processing, measurements and experiments, and research meetings.
Diagnosis and treatment activity is included in the social services classification.
The independent administrative agency system is a system designed to give an independent corporate status to the organization. This system has aimed to improve the quality, efficiency, transparency of operations, and autonomous management.
Experience as a researcher in a research institution in a country other than Japan is referenced.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) provides a special program that grants fellowships to (1) young Japanese postdoctoral researchers who conduct research activities at Japanese universities or research institutions on a non-employment basis and to (2) graduate students who conduct research in Japanese university doctoral programs. Please refer to http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-pd/index.html.
It includes research institute under the direct control of the administrative agency in this analysis.
This variable refers to independent administrative agencies as of October 2012, other than the incorporated national university. It includes foundations and the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation (IURIC). IURIC is classified as an independent administrative agency in this study to distinguish it from a university, though it is based on an incorporated national university. IURIC has made an important contribution to the development of Japan’s academic research by conducting effective joint research and providing researchers with benefits that are difficult for individual universities to maintain (e.g., large-scale facilities, considerable amounts of data, and academic materials).
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Fukuzawa, N. An empirical analysis of the relationship between individual characteristics and research productivity. Scientometrics 99, 785–809 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1213-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1213-3