Abstract
The effective distribution of funds to sustain a productive and healthy research system is a key concern of funders and institutions. To achieve this, governments and research funders commission reviews and set out strategies examining micro- and macro-determinants of research productivity. An important yet often overlooked factor in these reviews is research group structure. Large-scale quantitative bibliometric studies and small-scale qualitative studies of research collaborations and research group characteristics support the idea that organisational structure can affect the research produced.
However, while bibliometric approaches are powerful for exploring academic collaboration patterns based on authorship lists, authorship lists may deviate from actual research group membership. Conversely, although this problem may be less present in qualitative studies, qualitative studies are unable to cover a wide and diverse range of groups and to scale their insights.
In our research, we develop a unique approach to exploring the relationship between organisational structure and research output, by combining administrative, bibliometric, and qualitative data, covering both macro- (across entire institutions) and micro- (individual researchers’ experiences) level information, across two research institutions (the University of Cambridge and Université de Montréal). Unlike previous studies, we will use institutional administrative data to accurately define research groups and their composition and supplement it with bibliometric data to explore how the organisational structure of research groups (devolved/hierarchical, networked/isolated, small/large), structural dynamics (churn and growth rates) and demographics mixtures, relate to the groups’ research outputs, impact, and productivity.
Aim
Our quantitative research will reveal the relationship between the structural composition of research groups and research outputs. Furthermore, our work will shed light on the heterogeneity of these relationships across disciplines. Our quantitative approach will be supplemented by qualitative methods to elucidate possible mechanisms underlying these relationships and help to identify key transition points in the structure of research groups which may need particular support. We will convene policy workshops with institutional and national stakeholders to contextualise our findings and develop policy recommendations, which we will publish in a policy brief. Our findings will help policymakers improve the productivity of research by taking into account the effects of research group organisation in different disciplinary contexts and for different objectives.
As such, understanding the relationship between research group organisation and research outputs will help policymakers at universities, research institutes, and research councils:
- understand the implications of group structure and size on productivity and type of research produced;
- amplify the positive and mitigate the negative repercussions, and;
- potentially provide metrics to evidence research culture and inform the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Strategy, People, and Research Environment (SPRE) section.
Project Lead
Project Collaborators
Noam Tal-Perry
Lara Abel
Diego Kozlowski
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Status
Expected completion date: August 1, 2026