Atypical Combinations of Scientific Impact: quantitative analysis 19 million sc papers. most highly cited papers = specialists in one area collaborating with specialists in entirely different areas.
In the first, Brian Uzzi, Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, was the lead author of the paper “Atypical Combinations of Scientific Impact,” in the journal Science. His team did a quantitative analysis of more than nineteen million scientific papers. They found that the most highly cited papers came from specialists in one area collaborating with specialists in entirely different areas. This analysis demonstrates that those who worked with peers from different environments were the best scientists who made the most significant discoveries.
Uzzi, Brian, Satyam Mukherjee, Michael Stringer, and Ben Jones. “Atypical Combinations and Scientific Impact.” Science 342, no. 6157 (October 2013): 468-472.
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