What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how scientists navigate the tension between productive tradition and risky innovation when choosing research topics.

September 1, 2015American Sociological Review

Tradition and Innovation in Scientists’ Research Strategies

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To examine how scientists navigate the tension between productive tradition and risky innovation when choosing research topics.
Extracted chemical knowledge networks from millions of biomedical abstracts indexed in MEDLINE.
Developed a typology classifying research strategies based on whether they introduce novel chemical entities and connections or consolidate existing knowledge clusters.
Analyzed publication histories and risk profiles of award-winning scientists in biomedicine and chemistry.
Published research strategies remained highly stable over time, with high-risk innovative strategies being rare and increasingly supplanted by studies on established chemicals.
Innovative publications achieved higher citation impact on average than conservative studies, but the expected reward did not offset the baseline risk of failing to publish.
Analysis of elite prize winners demonstrated that rare, high-stakes gambles for extraordinary impact primarily account for the observed persistence of high-risk research.

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Implication

Bibliometric network analysis reveals persistent conservatism in biomedical research strategies, indicating that citation rewards fail to offset the risks of high-level innovation.

Cite This Study

Foster et al. (2015) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d9de2a0d540cafc5837d75 https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415601618

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Implication

Bibliometric network analysis reveals persistent conservatism in biomedical research strategies, indicating that citation rewards fail to offset the risks of high-level innovation.

Tradition and Innovation in Scientists’ Research Strategies

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Tradition and Innovation in Scientists’ Research Strategies

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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