Abstract
In the field of astronomy we illustrate the kinds of questions that can be answered with publication studies. For instance, we show that the publication rate is directly proportional to the number of active researchers and not upon technical or scientific breakthroughs. We find that astronomers, at least, are productive of outstanding papers throughout their careers. We found that the halflives of papers can be very long (30–40 years) in those fields and sub-fields that are growing rapidly. We suggest that such quantitative studies should be used more widely in making objective evaluations of researchers, equipment, and the awarding of grants and prizes.
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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Abt, H.A. (2000). What can we Learn from Publication Studies?. In: Heck, A. (eds) Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 256. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0926-3_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0926-3_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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