Organizing for scientific performance: The impact of organizational affiliation on scientific productivity in Nano Science & Technology

The relationship between scientific productivity and organizational structure has not been studied extensively to date and further research on this topic is needed to elucidate the role of this potentially important determinant of research productivity. This paper draws on a large and unique data set of more than 14,000 scientists in the multidisciplinary area of Nano Science & Technology (NST) and their publication behavior over a three-year period. The particular form of organization of interest is the specialized NSF-funded NSEC Centers, and it is shown that scientists affiliated with these research centers are more productive than their counterparts in academic departments, University Research Centers and Federal Laboratories