If you sleep with dogs you will wake up with flies: the Impact of Scientific Collaboration Network Structure and Evolution on Researcher Performance

This paper examines the evolution of a scientific collaboration network in order to investigate the process underlining the patterns of new researchers’ attachment, the extent to which the performance of a researcher is positively related to the network’s evolution and the process explaining the researcher’s performance evolution. We applied the Discrete-Time Network Visualization and the Actor Oriented Modeling to study the researchers’ co-evolution of network and performance in four departments of a major Italian University from 1996 to 2007. Results show that homophily is the main mechanism of attachment to a research group. Researchers’ performance is influenced by the groups the researcher belongs to, the strength of the tie to the principal investigator, and the researcher’s capabilities. To predict future good performance, the co-evolution mechanism requires strong ties inside the group and weak ties outside. Results do not support the hypothesis that performance is positively correlated with network growth. Theoretical and practical implications, together with future research directions, are discussed.