Deepening our understanding of academic inbreeding effects on research information exchange and scientific output: New insights for academic based research

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of academic inbreeding in relation to academic research, and proposes a new conceptual framework for its analysis. We find that mobility (or lack of) at the early research career stage is decisive in influencing academic behaviors and scientific productivity. Less mobile academics have more inward oriented information exchange dynamics and lower scientific productivity. The analysis also indicates that the information exchange and scientific productivity of academics that changed institutions only once do not differ substantially from that of "mobile inbred academics". This emphasizes the need for mobility throughout scientific and academic careers and calls for policies to curtail academic inbreeding. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.