Is there really a contradiction between quantity or quality in research?

What is it about?

Many hold the view that there is a diminishing marginal result from high productivity. In other words, highly productive researchers mainly produce a sea of irrelevant papers and it would be better for them and for the world if they concentrated on producing fewer papers but of really higher quality. We show in this PLoS ONE paper that these views are part of a myth and a misunderstanding of how science processes develop. Our study indicates a strong correlation between the number of papers and the influence on colleagues and researchers in the actual field. There are many explanations as to why this is the case: (1) writing more papers improve your visibility in your field and your chances of being cited, (2) while producing papers you receive feedback from your peers which make you understand how your arguments and your methods are conceived by others, (3) if you are more successful, you may obtain more resources such as grants and funding, which help you to write more papers, and (4) writing more may improve your writing skills and help you to write more and better papers. Also, many papers show that your research is productive and that you have a consistent research agenda.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

This issue has produced a number of tragic misconceptions which has misguided large parts of the research society.