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The importance of human relationships in scientific productivity

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Abstract

Fifty Brazilian scientists working in life sciences were interviewed in order to explore reasons of bursts and falls in their scientific productivity. Scientists recognize specific periods of time of their career during which they are more productive. Bursts of productivity are influenced mainly by human relationships and, to a lower extent, by material conditions (equipment, grants, etc), time dedicated to work and reasons linked to the kind of work carried out. The most productive scientists tend to attribute more importance to human relations than their colleagues with lower productivity scores. Some possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos-FINEP, Brazil

    Lucia Fonseca

  2. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Departamento de Bioquimica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Cidade Universitária, R.J, Brazil

    Sancia Velloso & L. de Meis

  3. Departamento de Bioquimica da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 90050, Porto Alegre, RGS, Brazil

    Susana Wofchuk

Authors
  1. Lucia Fonseca
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  2. Sancia Velloso
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  3. Susana Wofchuk
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  4. L. de Meis
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Correspondence to L. de Meis.

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Fonseca, L., Velloso, S., Wofchuk, S. et al. The importance of human relationships in scientific productivity. Scientometrics 39, 159–171 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02457445

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02457445

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