Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30530676›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2018

The chaperone effect in scientific publishing.

Vedran Sekara, Pierre Deville, Sebastian E Ahnert, Albert-László Barabási, Roberta Sinatra, Sune Lehmann

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Informal connections outweigh coauthorship ties in academic impact.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
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  8. Evaluating interdisciplinary research: Disparate outcomes for topic and knowledge base.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Collective dynamics behind success.Nature communications · 2024
    Review
  12. The academic Great Gatsby Curve.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Ranking mobility and impact inequality in early academic careers.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Vedran SekaraDepartment of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Pierre DevilleDepartment of Applied Mathematics, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Sebastian E AhnertTheory of Condensed Matter, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-2613-0041
Albert-László BarabásiCenter for Complex Network Research, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115; alb@neu.edu robertasinatra@gmail.com sljo@dtu.dk.ORCID 0000-0002-4028-3522
Roberta SinatraCenter for Complex Network Research, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115; alb@neu.edu robertasinatra@gmail.com sljo@dtu.dk.ORCID 0000-0002-7558-1028
Sune LehmannDepartment of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; alb@neu.edu robertasinatra@gmail.com sljo@dtu.dk.ORCID 0000-0001-6099-2345

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Experience plays a critical role in crafting high-impact scientific work. This is particularly evident in top multidisciplinary journals, where a scientist is unlikely to appear as senior author if he or she has not previously published within the same journal. Here, we develop a quantitative understanding of author order by quantifying this "chaperone effect," capturing how scientists transition into senior status within a particular publication venue. We illustrate that the chaperone effect has a different magnitude for journals in different branches of science, being more pronounced in medical and biological sciences and weaker in natural sciences. Finally, we show that in the case of high-impact venues, the chaperone effect has significant implications, specifically resulting in a higher average impact relative to papers authored by new principal investigators (PIs). Our findings shed light on the role played by experience in publishing within specific scientific journals, on the paths toward acquiring the necessary experience and expertise, and on the skills required to publish in prestigious venues.

Indexed as

mentorshipscience of sciencescientific careers

Identifiers

PMID30530676
PMCPMC6294962

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.