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Publication rate as a function of laboratory size in a biomedical research institution

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Abstract

At the Rockefeller University in 1977–78, the number of all publications of a research group in a year was approximately proportional to the number of individuals in that group during the year. The number of primary research publications of a group in a year was also approximately proportional to the number of individuals in that group during the year. The observed frequency distribution of laboratory size was statistically indistinguishable from a 0-truncated negative binomial distribution, which is the equilibrium frequency distribution of size predicted by stochastic models for the dynamics of freely-forming primate social groups.

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Cohen, J.E. Publication rate as a function of laboratory size in a biomedical research institution. Scientometrics 2, 35–52 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02016598

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