Abstract
Studies of strafication in science have increasingly accepted the idea that science is a highly stratified and elitist system with skewed distributions of productivity and rewards. Attempts to explain the higher productivity of higher status scientists by pointing to their greater ease of publication as far as acceptance of their work by journals and publishers is concerned were not supported by the data in some recent studies. If status in general does not confer greater ease of publication the present paper argues that position within a research organization does confer greater ease of author — or co-authorship — and this is the major explanatory variable accounting for productivity differences within research laboratories as far as quantity of articles (and books) is concerned. upward moves in a laboratory's formal or informal position hierarchy are associated with a change of a scientist's research involvement from goal executing to goal setting functions as well as with an increasing access to scientific manpower and project money. Goal setting tasks provide for a significant reduction of time-expenditures in research necessary to assure that the scientist is identified with the research results; consequently, they allow for an involvement in more research tasks than originally. Equivalently, resources in scientific manpower and project money act as a multiplying element as far as quantity of output is concerned.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. Y. LOTKA, The Frequency Distribution of Scientific Productivity,Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 16 (1926) 317–323.
D. de SOLLA PRICE,Little Science, Big Science, Columbia University Press, New York, 1963.
R. K. MERTON, The Matthew Effect in Science,Science, 59 (1968) 56–63.
L. MELTZER, Scientific Productivity in Organizational Settings,Journal of Social Issues, 12 (1956) 32–40.
L. MELTZER, J. SALTER, Organizational Structure and the Performance and Job Satisfaction of Physiologists,American Sociological Review, 27 No. 3 (1962) 351–362.
K. CLARK, America's Psychologists, American Psychological Association, Washington, D. C. 1957.
B. M. MELTZER, The Productivity of Social Scientists,American Journal of Sociology, 55 (1949) 25–29.
L. J. AXELSON, Differences in Productivity of Doctorates in Sociology,Journal of Educational Sociology, 33 (1959) 49–55.
N. BABCHUK, A. BATES, Professor or Produce: The Two Faces of Academic Man,Social Forces, 40 (1962) 341–344.
F. CLEMENTE, Early Career Determinants of Research Productivity,American Journal of Sociology, 79 No. 2. (1974) 409–419.
K. D. KNORR, M. HALLER, W. ZEHETNER, G. ZILIAN, Erkenntnis- und Verwertungsbedingungen sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschung, Jugend und Volk Verlag, Vienna, 1980.
J. BEN-DAVID, Scientific Productivity and Academic Organization in Nineteenth Century Medicine,American Sociological Review, 25 (1960) 828–843.
D. CRANE, Scientists at Major and Minor Universities: A Study of Productivity and Recognition,American Sociological Review, 30 (1965) 699–714.
P. THOMASSON, J. STANLEY, Exploratory Study of Productivity and ‘Creativity’ of Prominent Psychometricians. Unpubl. manuscript, Univ. of Wisconsin, 1966.
S. COLE, J. R. COLE, Scientific Output and Recognition. A Study in the Reward System in Science,American Sociological Review, 32 (1967) 377–390.
J. C. GASTON, Big Science in Britain: A Sociological Study of the High Energy Physics Community. Ph. D. thesis, Yale University, New Haven, 1969.
J. COLE, Patterns of Intellectual Influence in Scientific Research,Sociology of Education, 43 (1970) 377–403.
H. A. ZUCKERMAN, R. K. MERTON, Patterns of Evaluation in Science, Institutionalization, Structure and Functions of the Referee System,Minerva, 9 (1971) 66–100.
W. O. HAGSTROM, Inputs, Outputs and the Prestige of University Science Departments,Sociology of Education, 44 (1971) 375–397.
S. S. BLUME, R. SINCLAIR, Chemists in British Universities: A study of the Reward System in Science,American Sociological Review, 38 (1973) 126–138.
S. S. BLUME, R. SINCLAIR, Research Environment and Performance in British University Chemistry, Science Policy Studies, No. 6, HMSO, London, 1973.
D. C. PELZ, F. M. ANDREWS,Scientists in Organizations, Productive Climates for Research and Development, Wiley and Sons, New York, 1966; Second, enlarged and revised edition, 1976.
L. L. HARGENS, W. O. HAGSTROM, Sponsored and Contest Mobility of American Academic Scientists,Sociology of Education, 40 (1967) 24–38.
L. L. HARGENS, Patterns of Mobility of New Ph. D.'s among American Academic Institutions,Sociology of Education, 42 (1969) 18–37.
L. L. HARGENS, Patterns of Scientific Research: A Comparative Analysis of Research in Three Scientific Fields, American Sociological Association, Washington, D. C. 1975.
P. D. ALLISON, J. A. STEWART, Productivity Differences among Scientists: Evidence for Accumulative Advantage,American Sociological Review, 39 (1974) 596–606.
R. MITTERMEIR, K. D. KNORR, Scientific Productivity and Accumulative Advantage: A Thesis Reassessed,R&D Management, (1979), in print.
F. ANDREWS (Ed.),Scientific Productivity: The Effectiveness of Research Groups in Six Countries, Cambridge Univ. Press, Unesco, London, Paris, 1979.
S. COLE, L. RUBIN, J. R. COLE, Peer Review and the Support of Science,Scientific American, 237 (1977) 34–41.
J. R. COLE, S. COLE,Social Stratification in Science, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1973.
H. A. ZUCKERMAN,Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States, The Free Press, New York, 1977.
R. WHITLEY, The Sociology of Scientific Work and the History of Scientific Developments, in:Perspectives in the Sociology of Science, S. BLUME (Ed.), Wiley and Sons, New York, 1977.
R. WHITLEY, Changes in the Social and Intellectual Organization of the Sciences, in:The Social Production of Scientific Knowledge. Sociology of the Sciences, Vol. 1, E. MENDELSOHN, P. WEINGART, R. WHITLEY (Eds), D. Reidel Publ. Comp., Dordrecht, Holland, 1977.
R. WHITLEY, Types of Science, Organizational Strategies, and Patterns of Work in Research Laboratories in Different Scientific Fields,Social Science Information, 17 (1978) 427–47.
K. D. KNORR, Producing and Reproducing Knowledge: Descriptive or Constructive?Social Science Information, 16 (1977) 669–696.
K. D. KNORR, Contextuality and Indexicality of Organizational Action: Toward a Transorganizational Theory of Organizations,Social Science Information, 18 (1979) 1085–1109.
R. WHITLEY, Black Boxism and the Sociology of Science: a Discussion of the Major Developments in the Field,Sociological Review, 18 (1972) 61–92.
R. WHITLEY, Components of Scientific Activities, their Characteristics and Institutionalization in Specialties and Research Areas, in:Determinants and Controls of Scientific Development, K. D. KNORR, H. STRASSER, H. G. ZILIAN (Eds), D. Reidel Publ. Comp., Dordrecht, Holland, 1975.
P. WEINGART,Wissensproduktion und soziale Struktur, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, 1976.
W. O. HAGSTROM, Competition and Teamwork in Science. Dep. of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, mimeo, Madison/Wisconsin, 1967.
D. E. CHUBIN, S. MOITRA, Content Analysis of References: Adjunct or Alternative to Citation Counting?Social Studies of Science, 5 (1975) 423–41.
D. SULLIVAN, D. H. WHITE, E. J. BARBONI, Co-Citation Analysis of Science: an Evaluation,Social Studies of Science, 7 (1977) 223–40.
D. E. CHUBIN, K. E. STUDER, Network Structures in a Cancer Problem Domain: a Reorientation for Micro Studies in the Sociology of Sciences. Working Paper, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1977.
G. COLE, Classifying Research Units by Patterns of Performance and Influence: A Typology of the Round 1 Data, in:Scientific Productivity: The Effectiveness of Research Groups in Six Countries, F. ANDREWS (Ed.), Cambridge University Press, Unesco, London, Paris, 1979.
M. C. LEHMANN,Age and Achievement, Princeton University, Press, Princeton, N. J. 1953.
M. C. LEHMANN, The Chemists' Most Creative Years,Science, 227 (1958) 1213–1222.
M. C. LEHMANN, The Age Decremant in Scientific Creativity,American Psychologist, 15 (1960) 128–134.
K. D. KNORR, R. MITTERMEIR, G. AICHHOLZER, G. WALLER, Individual Publication Productivity as a Social Position Effect in Academic and Industrial Research Units. Research Memorandum 117, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, 1976.
S. COTGROVE, S. BOX,Science, Industry and Society, Allen & Unwin, London, 1970.
T. S. KUHN, The Essential Tension: Tradition and Innovation in Scientific Research, in:Scientific Creativity, its Recognition and Development, C. W. TAYLOR, F. BARRON (Eds), Wiley and Sons, New York, 1963.
G. GORDON, S. MARQUIS, Freedom, Visibility of Consequences, and Scientific Innovation,American Journal of Sociology, 72 (1966) 195–202.
K. G. JÖRESKOG, M. van THILLO, Lisrel: A General Computer Program for Estimating a Linear Structural Equation System Involving Multiple Indicators of Unmeasured Variables. Unpubl. research bulletin RB-R-26, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, N. Y. 1972.
K. G. JÖRESKOG, Analyzing Psychological Data by Structural Analysis of Covariance Matrices, in:Contemporary Developments in Mathematical Psychology, Vol. II, D. H. KRANTZ, R. D. LUCE, R. C. ATKINSON, P. SUPPE (Eds), W. H. Freeman and Comp, San Francisco, 1974.
G. WALLER, Individuelle Produktivität in akademischen Forschungsorganisationen: Eine Goodman Analyse. Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, 1976.
L. A. GOODMAN, A Modified Multiple Regression Approach to the Analysis of Dichotomous Variables,American Sociological Review, 37 (1972) 28–46.
L. A. GOODMAN, A General Model for the Analysis of Surveys,American Journal of Sociology, 77 (1972) 1035–1086.
L. A. GOODMAN, Causal Analysis of Data from Panel Studies and other Kinds of Surveys,American Journal of Sociology, 78 (1973) 1135–91.
G. KÜPPERS, P. LUNDGREEN, P. WEINGART,Umweltforschung, die gesteuerte Wissenschaft? Frankfurt, Suhrkamp, 1976.
F. NARIN, Evaluative Bibliometrics: The Use of Publication and Citation Analysis in the Evaluation of Scientific Activities, Computer Horizons Inc., Cherry Hill, N. J., 1977.
S. COLE, J. R. COLE, Measuring the Qualitiy of Sociological Research: Problems in the Use of the Science Citation Index,American Sociologist, 6 (1971) 23–29.
N. C. MULLINS, A Sociological Theory of Scientific Revolution, in: Determinants and Controls of Scientific Development, K. KNORR, H. STRASSER, H. G. ZILIAN (Eds), D. Reidel Publ. Comp., Dordrecht, Holland, 1975.
H. A. ZUCKERMAN, Stratification in American Science,Sociological Inquiry, 40 (1970) 235–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knorr, K.D., Mittermeir, R. Publication productivity and professional position: Cross-national evidence on the role of organizations. Scientometrics 2, 95–120 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02279362
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02279362