TY - JOUR

T1 - Bias against novelty in science

T2 - A cautionary tale for users of bibliometric indicators

AU - Wang, Jian

AU - Veugelers, Reinhilde

AU - Stephan, Paula

PY - 2017/10/31

Y1 - 2017/10/31

N2 - Research which explores unchartered waters has a high potential for major impact but also carries a higher uncertainty of having impact. Such explorative research is often described as taking a novel approach. This study examines the complex relationship between pursuing a novel approach and impact. Viewing scientific research as a combinatorial process, we measure novelty in science by examining whether a published paper makes first-time-ever combinations of referenced journals, taking into account the difficulty of making such combinations. We apply this newly developed measure of novelty to all Web of Science research articles published in 2001 across all scientific disciplines. We find that highly novel papers, defined to be those that make more (distant) new combinations, deliver high gains to science: they are more likely to be a top 1% highly cited paper in the long run, to inspire follow-on highly cited research, and to be cited in a broader set of disciplines and in disciplines that are more distant from their “home” field. At the same time, novel research is also more risky, reflected by a higher variance in its citation performance. We also find strong evidence of delayed recognition of novel papers as novel papers are less likely to be top cited when using short time-windows. In addition, we find that novel research is significantly more highly cited in “foreign” fields but not in their “home” field. Finally, novel papers are published in journals with a lower Impact Factor, compared with non-novel papers, ceteris paribus. These findings suggest that science policy, in particular funding decisions which rely on bibliometric indicators based on short-term citation counts and Journal Impact Factors, may be biased against “high risk/high gain” novel research. The findings also caution against a mono-disciplinary approach in peer review to assess the true value of novel research.

AB - Research which explores unchartered waters has a high potential for major impact but also carries a higher uncertainty of having impact. Such explorative research is often described as taking a novel approach. This study examines the complex relationship between pursuing a novel approach and impact. Viewing scientific research as a combinatorial process, we measure novelty in science by examining whether a published paper makes first-time-ever combinations of referenced journals, taking into account the difficulty of making such combinations. We apply this newly developed measure of novelty to all Web of Science research articles published in 2001 across all scientific disciplines. We find that highly novel papers, defined to be those that make more (distant) new combinations, deliver high gains to science: they are more likely to be a top 1% highly cited paper in the long run, to inspire follow-on highly cited research, and to be cited in a broader set of disciplines and in disciplines that are more distant from their “home” field. At the same time, novel research is also more risky, reflected by a higher variance in its citation performance. We also find strong evidence of delayed recognition of novel papers as novel papers are less likely to be top cited when using short time-windows. In addition, we find that novel research is significantly more highly cited in “foreign” fields but not in their “home” field. Finally, novel papers are published in journals with a lower Impact Factor, compared with non-novel papers, ceteris paribus. These findings suggest that science policy, in particular funding decisions which rely on bibliometric indicators based on short-term citation counts and Journal Impact Factors, may be biased against “high risk/high gain” novel research. The findings also caution against a mono-disciplinary approach in peer review to assess the true value of novel research.

KW - Bibliometrics

KW - Breakthrough research

KW - Evaluation

KW - Impact

KW - Novelty

U2 - 10.1016/j.respol.2017.06.006

DO - 10.1016/j.respol.2017.06.006

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85025428088

VL - 46

SP - 1416

EP - 1436

JO - Research Policy

JF - Research Policy

SN - 0048-7333

IS - 8

ER -