Quality of Research and the Nobel Prizes

It has often been claimed that prestige of scientists goes up in "quantum leaps," especially when well-known awards are received. The claim has been made most often with respect to the Nobel Prizes in science, which supposedly confer an almost visible halo to their recipients. The hypothes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social studies of science 1976-02, Vol.6 (1), p.33-50
Main Authors: Inhaber, H., Przednowek, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Awards
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Nobel Prize
Nobel Prizes
Physical chemistry
Physics
Physiology
Prestige
Quality/Qualities/Qualitative
Regression coefficients
Research/Researcher/Researchers
Science/Sciences (see also Scientific)
Standard deviation
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:It has often been claimed that prestige of scientists goes up in "quantum leaps," especially when well-known awards are received. The claim has been made most often with respect to the Nobel Prizes in science, which supposedly confer an almost visible halo to their recipients. The hypothesis is investigated on the basis of citations to the work on Nobelists before & after winning the prize. 2 control groups were also considered: (1) scientists elected to the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a less-prestigious award, & (2) all scientists who received any citations. Taken as a whole, the Nobelists had a significant increase in rate of citation to their work after being honored. However, this varied with discipline. Physicists & chemists had a sharp increase in citation rate, whereas those in medicine had an actual decrease. For members of the NAS, the citation rate did not change significantly after they entered the academy. For all scientists, the citation rate also did not change significantly when an arbitrary year was chosen as a starting date. While scientists can receive greater prestige after being honored, the field in which they work probably determines the extent of the increased prestige. This fact is probably due to some scientists being shunted into administrative tasks after their major discoveries, & others continuing on in laboratory science. 1 Table, 4 Figures. AA.
ISSN:0306-3127
1460-3659
DOI:10.1177/030631277600600102