ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → News

Science is dominated by the 1%

Mara BujorbyMara Bujor
July 17, 2014
in News, Other, Science
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

RelatedPosts

If you think you have food allergies… well… you probably don’t
Scientists develop largest simulation of the Universe to find dark matter
Gore’s Challenge: 100% Carbon Neutral by 2018
Q&A with Dr. Ijad Madisch (ResearchGate founder)
Photo: snapshot from the Wolf of Wall Street.
Photo: snapshot from the Wolf of Wall Street.

I’m not referring to the world’s billionaire elite, but to an exclusive group of researchers that have become so prolific they are now dominating the scientific community. To be more precise, fewer than 1% of researchers publish one or more papers a year. Moreover, this elite is responsible for publishing 41% of all papers, according to recent findings published in the journal PLOS ONE. These numbers are definitely surprising, but in the end they may raise more questions than answers.

The science elite

John Ioannidis of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California led the study which mined the Elsevier’s Scopus database  and looked at which names popped out more often and how frequent. In total, the team analyzed countless paper authored by 15 million scientists worldwide in many disciplines between 1996 and 2011.

“I decided to study this question because I had seen in my life a large number of talented people who just did not survive in the current system and with the current limited resources,” Ioannidis said.

Publishing papers is both the most desirable and daunting task a scientist can ask for, yet there are very few researchers that can hope to churn out papers year in, year out. However, even the team that made the meta analysis was caught off guard by this disproportional amount of scientists who are simply dominating the whole community. The ranks thin out even more as the study filtered out for authors who published more than one paper a year, as follows:

  • Two or more: 68,221
  • Three or more: 37,953
  • Four or more: 23,342
  • Five or more: 15,464
  • 10 or more: 3269

So, what do these numbers tell us? Well, if we wouldn’t know better, it would mean that most of the world’s  scientific contributions come from a tiny fraction of the community, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. There are only a couple of people who genuinely have the time, patience and dedication to publish more than two or three papers a year. What typically happens is a lead researchers will supervise the work of his doctoral students and often drop his name in the paper, and thus get indexed. Then there’s always the case of doubtful quality. There are millions of papers published each year, some in top journals, while other in rather modest journals. Considering the kind of articles get across, even in peer-reviewed journals, it’s no wonder we see so many ‘prolific’ authors.

To me at least, this means either millions of students all over the world are getting exploited or there’s genuinely a 1% elite that’s responsible for less than half of the world’s scientific contributions. I’m leaning towards the first.

Tags: Sciencescientific journalsearch engine

ShareTweetShare
Mara Bujor

Mara Bujor

Mara is a student preparing to take the plunge and go to college. She's always been interested in anything new and intriguing as long as it made her think. She considers herself far from being a scientist but rather a seeker on his way to new and exciting answers and she's trying to make the internet educate people and show them the interesting part of science.

Related Posts

Economics

The US wants to know if researchers in other countries follow MAGA doctrine

byMihai Andrei
2 months ago
Economics

Trump’s War on Science Is Fueling a Brain Drain in Real Time

byMihai Andrei
2 months ago
News

Scientists slam American Society for Microbiology for taking down features of non-white researchers

byMihai Andrei
3 months ago
News

Over 70% of science award finalists in the US are children of immigrants

byMihai Andrei
7 months ago

Recent news

The unusual world of Roman Collegia — or how to start a company in Ancient Rome

May 16, 2025
Merton College, University of Oxford. Located in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

For over 500 years, Oxford graduates pledged to hate Henry Symeonis. So, who is he?

May 16, 2025

The Strongest Solar Storm Ever Was 500 Times More Powerful Than Anything We’ve Seen in Modern Times. It Left Its Mark in a 14,000-Year-Old Tree

May 16, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.