Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42423372›Full record

ArticleeLife2026

Comparing the outputs of intramural and extramural grants funded by National Institutes of Health.

Xiang Zheng, Qiyao Yang, Jai Potnuri, Chaoqun Ni, B Ian Hutchins

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

5 authors.

Xiang ZhengInformation School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-6619-5504
Qiyao YangInformation School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States.
Jai PotnuriInformation School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States.
Chaoqun NiInformation School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-4130-7602
B Ian HutchinsInformation School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7657-552X

Funding

United States Department of Defense W911NF2210294
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Funding agencies use a variety of mechanisms to fund research. The National Institutes of Health in the United States, for example, employs scientists to perform research at its own laboratories (intramural research), and it also awards grants to pay for research at external institutions such as universities (extramural research). Here, using data from 1594 intramural grants and 97,054 extramural grants funded between 2009 and 2019, we compare the scholarly outputs from these two funding mechanisms in terms of number of publications, Relative Citation Ratio, and clinical metrics. We find that extramural awards are more cost-effective for producing outputs commonly used for academic evaluation, such as publications and citations (per dollar), while intramural awards are more cost-effective for generating research that influences future clinical work, more closely in line with the agency's health goals. These findings provide evidence that institutional incentives associated with different funding mechanisms drive their comparative strengths.

Indexed as

Biomedical ResearchFinancing, GovernmentFinancing, OrganizedNational Institutes of Health (U.S.)Research Support as TopicBibliometricsCost-Benefit AnalysisHumansUnited Statesbibliometricscomparative analysiscomputational biologycost effectivenessneurosciencenonescience policysystems biology

Identifiers

PMID42423372
PMCPMC13349378

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.