Huge analysis of 320,000 careers suggests that productive researchers stay that way

"The study says that these researchers represent almost 80% of all 'late career' scientists - people who have at least 25 years of experience in publishing academic articles - in the world."

"Kwiek had found that success breeds success: the top group of performers generally stayed consistently productive."

"A study from 1974 reported a similar phenomenon of 'accumulative advantage': productive scientists are more likely to stay productive, whereas scientists who have low productivity experience a decline in output."

"The article hypothesized that this might be because of individual motivation or a result of extra resources being provided to high achievers."

A study analyzed the publication records of over 320,000 researchers to determine predictors of late-career success. It found that early high achievement is crucial for continued productivity. The research covered 50 years of bibliographic data and 1.8 billion citations across various disciplines. Previous studies indicated that productive scientists tend to maintain their output, while less productive ones often decline. This trend suggests that motivation and additional resources may contribute to sustained success among high achievers.

Read at Nature