research articles in social science

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We’ve Hit Peak Denial. Here’s Why We Can’t Turn Away From Reality

We are living through a terrible time in humanity. Here’s why we tend to stick our heads in the sand and why we need to pull them out, fast

Marianne Cooper, Maxim Voronov

Humans Started Passing Down Knowledge to Future Generations 600,000 Years Ago

The advent of “cumulative culture”—teaching others and passing down that knowledge—may have reached an inflection point around the time Neandertals and modern humans split from a common ancestor

Jack Tamisiea

University Presidents Should Study How Democracy Works

A philosophy department chair arrested at a campus protest offers university presidents a lesson in democracy

Noëlle McAfee

Here’s Why the News Didn’t Tell You What Protesters Really Wanted

Baked-in news practices cover only the worst moments of protests and neglect telling people what protesters are asking for, extensive research shows

Douglas M. McLeod

Trump’s Personality Cult Plays a Part in His Political Appeal

Personality measures suggest Donald Trump exerts a cult of personality over his followers, people who are psychologically susceptible to his appeal. This could help explain how he has succeeded in U.S. politics while other populists have not

Ben Goldsmith, Lars J. K. Moen

Ancient Snake and Centipede Carvings Are among World’s Largest Rock Engravings

Enormous engraved rock art of anacondas, rodents and other animals along the Orinoco River in Colombia and Venezuela may have been used to mark territory 2,000 years ago

Stephanie Pappas

We Must Face Down the Expanding Anti-Reality Industry

Exposing the antiscience playbook reveals the antiregulatory motives of its deep-pocketed bankrollers

Bryn Nelson

Cooperation Is the Key to Surviving the Apocalypse

Cooperation theorist Athena Aktipis talks about zombies, game theory, go bags and more in her new book, A Field Guide to the Apocalypse .

Rachel Feltman, Anaissa Ruiz Tejada

The Missing Human in Misinformation Fixes

Misinformation solutions target a rational, ethical ideal who doesn’t exist; to combat misinfo, we need to start with a richer concept of the human

A Widely Used Criminal Justice Algorithm For Assessing Child Pornography Recidivism Is Flawed

The CPORT algorithm, commonly used to estimate the risk that a child pornography offender will offend again, hasn’t been validated for use in the U.S.

Nicholas Scurich, Daniel Krauss

Lost Branch of the Nile May Solve Long-Standing Mystery of Egypt’s Famed Pyramids

A former stretch of the Nile River, now buried beneath the Sahara Desert, may help scientists understand how Egyptians built the pyramids and adapted to a drying landscape

Riis Williams

New Folk Song Analysis Finds Similarities around the World

Across the globe, singing traditions are vast and varied. Their commonalities may help explain how music evolved

Allison Parshall

Leveraging the Mercury Project Research Framework

Mercury Project codirector Heather Lanthorn introduces the project’s newly updated Research Framework, a public good that supports researchers, funders, and…

Master Protocols for USAID Social and Behavioral Change Research

The Social Science Research Council recently submitted a response to an RFI from the National Institutes of Health’s Common Fund,…

Master Protocols: A Tool for Increasing the Reliability of Behavioral Evidence

Social Science Research Council President Anna Harvey shares a recent submission to an RFI from the NIH’s Common Fund, detailing…

Covid-19 and the Social Sciences More Collections >

Inequalities, Pandemic Technologies, and the State in Ecuador

Many countries struggled with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as it overwhelmed health services and forced everyone into lockdown. In Ecuador, inadequate public funding…

Viropolitics and Value(s): From Surviving to Living in San Francisco’s Shelter in Place Hotels

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) have been some of the most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic; however, the crisis has also allowed for new opportunities to…

Cynicism, Care, Kindness: Contradictory Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic

As part of their SSRC-funded Covid-19 research, Lu Liu and Marjorie Orellana study the role care and kindness played during the pandemic. Through an ethnographic…

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Politics of Rest and Resilience: Indian Ocean Mangroves and Collaborative Research in the Pandemic

In this essay, the authors reflect on their experiences researching the impacts of port expansion in the Indian Ocean on mangroves and the communities surrounding them with the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Social Movements as Bulwarks of Democracy: Indigenous Mobilization and Political Inclusion in Ecuador

In her essay, Karla Mundim examines Indigenous protest movements in Ecuador, focusing on the protests against construction on the Piatua River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Mundim argues that, despite the enshrining of the prior consultation of Indigenous communities and the "rights of nature" in the country's constitution, Indigenous communities continue to protests and make themselves visible to the state to safeguard their democratic rights.

Violence against Women in Politics in Brazil: An Instrument of Power and Anti-Egalitarian Obstruction

Here, Tássia Rabelo de Pinho examines how violence against women in politics manifest in Brazil to the detriment of advancing women's engagement in politics at the national and local levels.

District Selection and Racial Identity: Voting Preferences in the Colombian Congress’ Black District

Despite the creation of ethnic congressional district meant to increase minority representation, participation in Colombia’s Afro-descendant district has been historically low. Here, Cristina Echeverri-Pineda and Mateo Villamizar-Chaparro examine why Afro-Colombian participation in this district has stagnated and what it could mean for democracy in Colombia.

Improving Evidence and Relevance at the Same Time

Researcher Neil Lewis Jr. discusses how the SSRC’s Mercury Project's teams approach to research can improve the evidence generation process.

Nós por Nós: How Community Organizations are Reinventing Democracy in Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas

In their research, Anjuli Fahlberg, Cristiane Martins, Joiceane Lopes, Ana Cláudia Araújo, Lidiane Santos, Sophia Costa, and Guilherme Baratho examine how democracy is being recreated in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, particularly Cidade de Deus, where Covid-19 was first recorded. Drawing on their research on the pandemic’s impact on local residents vis-à-vis emergent forms of autonomous governance and how these are shaped by gender and racial dynamics, they argue that civic associations’ mobilization tactics in Cidade de Deus can help us understand how democracy is being reinvented in these spaces under conditions of extreme governmental neglect.

“An Assault on Democracy”: The Effects of Voter ID Laws on Immigrant-Serving Organizations

Following the weakening of the Voting Rights Act in the United States, many Republican-controlled states enacted restrictive voting ID laws aimed at limiting franchise access to communities of color. In their research, Hajar Yazdiha and Blanca Ramirez examine how immigrant-serving organizations in five Southern states recalibrated their resources to help immigrants vote. Focusing on Alabama, they investigate five shifts these immigrant-serving organizations have made to address the impact of voter ID laws, which, the authors argue, shows how these restrictive laws can lead to new forms of organizing and resistance.

Representing Mining Realities: Journalism of the People and Digital Expressions of Democracy on Facebook

The conflict between communities in the Peruvian Andes and multinational mining companies has often been told by national media controlled by elites in the capital of Lima. However, the advent of online livestreams has allowed local communities to make their demands and reveal their circumstances to the public at large. Here, Adela Zhang examines how these popular forms of journalism present a different version of the “reality” of extractive capitalism to the one shown by the mainstream press.

A Relational Response to the Covid-19 Crisis: Perspectives from Two Case Studies in South Africa

As part of their SSRC-funded Covid-19 research, Marlie Holtzhausen and Cori Wielenga examine what a relational approach can tell us about the efficiency of development interventions and how a relational approach can inform whether certain interventions are sustainable during a crisis. Looking at two development organizations in South Africa, they find that “success” for these organizations was not defined by a quantifiable measures like funds raised or people helped but by the dignity of the care and aid provided, which is possible thanks to a foundation of strong relationships.

#RhodesMustFall, the University of Cape Town, and the Deep Inscription of Colonialism

For our “Where Heritage Meets Violence” essay series, Nick Shepherd considers how the violence of colonialism is deeply inscribed in space and landscape. He traces the history of the University of Cape Town, where a protest against a statue of Cecil Rhodes initiated the #RhodesMustFall movement. Shepherd examines the persistent materializations of power, showing how enduring coloniality shapes embodied ways of seeing and being in the world.

New database features 250 AI tools that can enhance social science research

Assistant Research Professor at the Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University

Professor of education, Mississippi State University

Research associate in sociology, Mississippi State University

Doctoral student in psychology, Baylor University

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AI – or artificial intelligence – is often used as a way to summarize data and improve writing. But AI tools also represent a powerful and efficient way to analyze large amounts of text to search for patterns. In addition, AI tools can assist with developing research products that can be shared widely.

It’s with that in mind that we , as researchers in social science , developed a new database of AI tools for the field . In the database, we compiled information about each tool and documented whether it was useful for literature reviews, data collection and analyses, or research dissemination. We also provided information on the costs, logins and plug-in extensions available for each tool.

When asked about their perceptions of AI, many social scientists express caution or apprehension. In a sample of faculty and students from over 600 institutions, only 22% of university faculty reported that they regularly used AI tools .

From combing through lengthy transcripts or text-based data to writing literature reviews and sharing results, we believe AI can help social science researchers – such as those in psychology, sociology and communication – as well as others get the most out of their data and present it to a wider audience.

Analyze text using AI

Qualitative research often involves poring over transcripts or written language to identify themes and patterns. While this kind of research is powerful, it is also labor-intensive. The power of AI platforms to sift through large datasets not only saves researchers time, but it can also help them analyze data that couldn’t have been analyzed previously because of the size of the dataset.

Specifically, AI can assist social scientists by identifying potential themes or common topics in large, text-based data that scientists can interrogate using qualitative research methods. For example, AI can analyze 15 million social media posts to identify themes in how people coped with COVID-19. These themes can then give researchers insight into larger trends in the data, allowing us to refine criteria for a more in-depth, qualitative analysis.

AI tools can also be used to adapt language and scientists’ word choice in research designs. In particular, AI can reduce bias by improving the wording of questions in surveys or refining keywords used in social media data collection.

Identify gaps in knowledge

Another key task in research is to scan the field for previous work to identify gaps in knowledge. AI applications are built on systems that can synthesize text . This makes literature reviews – the section of a research paper that summarizes other research on the same topic – and writing processes more efficient.

Research shows that human feedback to AI, such as providing examples of simple logic, can significantly improve the tools’ ability to perform complex reasoning . With this in mind, we can continually revise our instructions to AI and refine its ability to pull relevant literature.

However, social scientists must be wary of fake sources – a big concern with generative AI . It is essential to verify any sources AI tools provide to ensure they come from peer-reviewed journals.

Share research findings

AI tools can quickly summarize research findings in a reader-friendly way by assisting with writing blogs, creating infographics and producing presentation slides and even images.

Our database contains AI tools that can also help scientists present their findings on social media. One tool worth highlighting is BlogTweet . This free AI tool allows users to copy and paste text from an article like this one to generate tweet threads and start conversations.

Be aware of the cost of AI tools

Two-thirds of the tools in the database cost money. While our primary objective was to identify the most useful tools for social scientists, we also sought to identify open-source tools and curated a list of 85 free tools that can support literature reviews, writing, data collection, analysis and visualization efforts.

In our analysis of the cost of AI tools, we also found that many offer “freemium” access to tools. This means you can explore a free version of the product. More advanced versions of the tool are available through the purchase of tokens or subscription plans.

For some tools, costs can be somewhat hidden or unexpected. For instance, a tool that seems open source on the surface may actually have rate limits, and users may find that they’ve run out of free questions to ask the AI.

The future of the database

Since the release of the Artificial Intelligence Applications for Social Science Research Database on Oct. 5, 2023, it has been downloaded over 400 times across 49 countries. In the database, we found 131 AI tools useful for literature reviews, summaries or writing. As many as 146 AI tools are useful for data collection or analysis, and 108 are useful for research dissemination.

We continue to update the database and hope that it can aid academic communities in their exploration of AI and generate new conversations. The more that social scientists use the database, the more they can work toward consensus of adopting ethical approaches to using AI in research and analysis.

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Larson Publishes Research on Intergenerational Impact of Fines and Fees

Written by Staff

June 17, 2024

Ryan Larson, assistant professor in the criminology and forensic science department, is an author on a new research article entitled "Fines, Fees, and Families: Monetary Sanctions as Stigmatized Intergenerational Exchange" in  The Sociological Quarterly . Dr. Larson and his colleagues analyze 70 semi-structured interviews of debtholders in Minnesota, finding that the impacts of monetary sanctions are intergenerational and experiences as a form of stigmatized exchange. Adult children reported perceiving anger and financial strain from family members who provide payment assistance. Further, those with minor children expressed hopelessness, stress, and financial strain, as they prioritized basic needs over meeting their outstanding financial obligations. 

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DARPA considers 6 new designs for uncrewed VTOL aircraft that carry weapons payloads — with test flights set for 2026

Lightweight fighter aircraft with no pilots could support conventional military missions while being easier to launch and recover.

The U.S. military could soon have new uncrewed aircraft that carry weapons and take off and land vertically. The vehicles could undergo test flights as early as 2026. 

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced it is moving into a new testing phase for proposed experimental aircraft in which designs will be assessed for risk and analyzed for efficiency. 

The Advanced Aircraft Infrastructure-less Launch And Recovery (ANCILLARY) program will field designs for new, uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) carrying weapons. Specifically, the project aims to deliver X-planes capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) like a helicopter that can operate from aircraft carriers.

"X-plane" is a classifier used by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for experimental aircraft. Past X-planes include the Bell X-1 — the first crewed vehicle to break the sound barrier in conventional flight — and the X-15, which broke records in aerospace such as previously unachievable airspeeds and the successful use of novel propulsion techniques. 

VTOL aircraft negate the need for a runway, meaning they can be launched more easily. DARPA also wants these X-planes to be capable of operating in adverse weather conditions without supporting ground crew or infrastructure, which would enable them to operate in a far wider range of battlefield environments. 

DARPA hopes these aircraft could support the U.S. Navy ships to identify vessels beyond their line of sight but also said in a 22 May press release that the U.S. Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Special Operations Command had registered interest in the program.

The defense and aerospace contractors bidding for the project are AeroVironment, Griffon Aerospace, Karem Aircraft, Method Aeronautics, Northrop Grumman and the Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky.

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Related: Flying car designed to hop across the Philippines' 7,000 islands coming this year

VTOL can be achieved in a number of different ways. For example, Sikorsky’s battery-powered design props itself on its tail while on the ground and takes off like a helicopter, with the propellers facing upward, then tilts forward to fly through the air horizontally like a plane. Karem Aircraft, meanwhile, has put forward a heavy-fuel-driven craft that uses a tilting rotor to fly straight up in the air and hover when the rotor is in the upward position, then propel the aircraft forward at high speeds when the rotor is in the forward position.

DARPA aims to increase its use of UAS by a factor of three in the coming years. Given the small size and low weight of ANCILLARY X-planes, the Navy could store far more aboard ships than it can helicopters and launch them directly from the deck without needing specialized equipment — unlike planes and conventional UAS the Navy currently uses.

— DARPA's autonomous 'Manta Ray' drone can glide through ocean depths undetected

— NASA and DARPA flew 'experimental' self-flying helicopters to see if they could avoid crashing into other virtual aircraft

— Futuristic vertical-takeoff air taxi could hit the market by 2028  

"Our performers are searching for innovative ways to increase payload weight and range/endurance of small, ship-launched UAS by means of novel configurations, propulsion, and controls while also removing the need for special infrastructure," said Steve Komadina , DARPA program manager for ANCILLARY, in DARPA’s press release. 

ANCILLARY is currently in phase 1b, with testing set to run for 10 months from June 2024 to spring 2025. During this time, DARPA will assess the manufacturers' individual designs based on the safety of their systems and hover tests. 

The project will then move onto phase 2, at which point participants will propose details for X-plane design and construction as well as test plans. Flight tests for designs deemed the most promising are due to commence at the start of 2026.

Komadina also said that going forward, ANCILLARY systems could be improved through sensor innovation, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) or more autonomous vehicle breakthroughs.  

Rory Bathgate is a freelance writer for Live Science and Features and Multimedia Editor at ITPro, overseeing all in-depth content and case studies. Outside of his work for ITPro, Rory is keenly interested in how the tech world intersects with our fight against climate change. This encompasses a focus on the energy transition, particularly renewable energy generation and grid storage as well as advances in electric vehicles and the rapid growth of the electrification market. In his free time, Rory enjoys photography, video editing and science fiction. He joined ITPro in 2022 as a graduate, after completing an MA (Hons) in Eighteenth-Century Studies at King’s College London. You can contact Rory at [email protected].

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Peru puts endemic fog oasis under protection

• The Peruvian government has formally granted conservation status to the 6,449-hectare (16,000-acre) desert oasis site Lomas y Tillandsiales de Amara y Ullujalla on the coast of Peru.
• Lomas are unique ecosystems relying on marine fog that host rare and endemic plants and animal species. But they have become threatened by driving, land trafficking, urban development and mining.
• The site, the first of its kind to become protected after more than 15 years of scientific and advocacy efforts, will help scientists understand climatic and marine cycles in the area.

Peru has granted formal conservation status to Lomas y Tillandsiales de Amara y Ullujaya,   a unique fog oasis ecosystem on the arid Peruvian coastline. The state-owned land, which spans 6,449 hectares (15,936 acres) in the Ica region of Southwest Peru and hosts hundreds of rare and threatened native species, will be protected for future research and exploration for at least three decades.

Lomas   are fog oasis ecosystems in Peru and Chile that have evolved over tens of millions of years and occur like hilltop “islands” in the desert. Located alongside the Pacific Ocean, the ecosystem depends entirely on sea-generated fog to sustain it. This kind of maritime climate is globally unique for a terrestrial habitat and occurs due to its proximity to converging warm tropical and cold Antarctic Ocean currents.

“This is the first concession for conservation on the desert coast of Peru, and also the first concession for lomas fog ecosystems,” said Oliver Whaley, a scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who has worked in Peru for more than 25 years.

Lomas host endemic vascular plants, as well as wild tomato and papaya relatives, which act as important genetic resources for future proofing crops. The Amara y Ullujaya Lomas hosts around 95 from all 675 lomas species of vascular plants. Of these around 40% are endemic to the lomas, around 30% are threatened and at least 6 species are critically endangered (such as  Nolana willeana  on Peru red list). One lichen species, the Peruvian orange-bush lichen ( Teloschistes peruensis ) is known only within a few hundred square meters and is classified as critically endangered.

The ecosystem is also a vital last refuge for the highly threatened Peruvian subspecies of guanaco ( Lama guanicoe cacsilensis ), one of four species of South American camelid, and the wild relative of the domesticated Llama ( Lama glama ). These rare camelids are a keystone species and key seed dispersers for lomas plant species and are vital for their survival.

Other mammals include two desert fox species, the Andean fox ( Lycalopex culpaeus ) and South American grey fox ( Lycalopex griseus ). Most of the gecko and lizard species are also endemic and threatened, such as the lizard locally known as cabezona ( Ctenoblepharys adspersa ). Lomas also provide multiple ecosystem services, including clean water, carbon storage, clean air and food for the 58% of the Peruvian population that lives in the coastal zones nearby.

The conservation concession follows more than 15 years of research and advocacy and four intense years of negotiation with local and national authorities, said Justin Moat, scientist at RBG Kew and lead author of a scientific paper that revealed the true extent of the lomas fog ecosystems and their unique biodiversity.

“After so many years of work, it is incredibly exciting to see this area finally protected,” Moat said.

“With the recent advent of mass satellite imagery, we have been able to map these remote and often ephemeral ecosystems in extraordinary detail. Presently only 4% of the lomas are protected in Peru and Chile,” he told Mongabay.

The Lomas Amara y Ullujaya had remained largely intact due to its remote location away from the coastal Pan-American Highway. But, in recent years, new roads and an increase in off-road driving, land trafficking, urban development and mining have severely threatened the ecosystem, making it an urgent priority for local and international scientists for official protection.

“Lomas are perhaps the most highly sensitive and responsive ecosystems on the planet,” Whaley said. The plants that grow there are so highly evolved in this ancient arid environment that they respond to tiny changes of humidity and temperature.”

The unique ecosystem can help scientists understand climatic and marine cycles, Whaley said, which makes their protection even more crucial.

Scientists from Kew working with local NGO  Huarango Nature  have been studying the lomas for two decades, making herbarium collections and, more recently, using remote sensing and drones to map the ecosystem to understand better what species are present. These data were vital to getting the concession for conservation.

The newly conserved site, which will be managed by  Huarango Nature , working in partnership with Kew, local organic farm Samaca and Peru’s National Forest and Wildlife Service ( SERFOR ), could help research into the biodiversity and how it is being impacted by climate change.

Alberto Yataco, a technical administrator with SERFOR in Ica, said that Kew’s “scientific and technical capacity would ensure the conservation and sustained management” of the biodiversity in Peruvian coastal lomas.

Whaley explained that collaboration with local biologists, communities, environmental law experts and SERFOR had been key to achieving the lomas’ conversation status.

“It has very much been a team effort, decades in the making,” Whaley added. “We are so proud of this work and celebrate with everyone involved.”

Moat, J., Orellana-Garcia, A., Tovar, C., Arakaki, M., Arana, C., Cano, A., … Whaley, O. Q. (2021). Seeing through the clouds – Mapping desert fog oasis ecosystems using 20 years of MODIS imagery over Peru and Chile. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation , 103 , 102468. doi: 10.1016/j.jag.2021.102468

Banner image : Fog oasis flowering in response to fog. Image courtesy of Justin Moat, RBG Kew.

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• Published: 17 June 2024

Impact of academic title structure of university research teams on research output: evidence from 30 Chinese universities

• Mengmeng Zhang 1 ,
• Liyuan Liu 1 ,
• Dongmei Zeng 1 &
• Xiaoying Li 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  769 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Science, technology and society

Despite widespread agreement in the scholarly community about the significance of academic title structure on research output, research on the underlying mechanisms remains insufficient. Social contribution and research resources were selected as mediating variables, panel data of the materials science and engineering discipline of 30 Chinese universities from 2016 to 2020 were chosen as the research samples, and a fixed-effects model was subsequently applied to conduct a chain mediating effect test. The results showed: (1) Both the proportion of national-level talents and that of senior titles can promote research output, with the former having a much greater effect, while the proportion of associate senior titles has an indistinctive negative correlation with research output. (2) Both the proportion of national-level talents and that of senior titles can significantly enhance research output through the chain mediating effect of social contribution and research resources, with national-level talents having a stronger ability to make social contributions and obtain research resources. (3) Social contribution is more effective than research resources in enhancing research output. Based on the findings, it is recommended to improve policies for introducing high-end talents and to increase support for researchers with associate senior titles. Furthermore, it is advisable to establish a research evaluation system based on social influence, guiding researchers to obtain research resources and enhance research output through social contributions.

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In the race for knowledge, is human capital the most essential element?

Introduction.

To seize the opportunities of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, China has formulated and implemented the innovation-driven development strategy, setting three milestone goals: to join the ranks of innovative countries by 2020, to be among the forefront of innovative countries by 2030, and to become a world-leading power in science and technology innovation and a major global center for science and innovation by 2050 (Bo, 2019 ). Against the backdrop of China’s unprecedented emphasis on scientific and technological innovation, the research output of universities should be highly valued, as the higher education institutions are the main battleground for innovation. Studies on the factors influencing research output have shown that academic titles contribute significantly more to researchers’ output than other factors such as salary, research investment time, and research collaboration (Zhang and Shen, 2019 ; Gu and Shen, 2012 ). These studies provide a theoretical basis for this paper to focus on the impact of academic title structure on research output.

The research on the relationship between academic title and research output can be roughly divided into three categories: the first category is to study the impact of academic title on scientific research output from the perspective of individual researchers, revealing a positive relationship between academic titles and the quantity and quality of research output (Huang, 2021 ; Fulton and Trow, 1974 ). Notably, scholars with senior titles are more productive in research papers (Wei et al., 2018 ). The second category is the influence investigation of academic title structure from the perspective of university management on scientific research output. These studies focus on the relationship between the proportion of different academic titles and university development, suggesting that university research output and development are influenced by the structure of academic titles (You et al., 2017 ; Ding and He, 2021 ; Cai and Ren, 2017 ). The third category is to explore the function mechanism of academic title on scientific research output. These studies concentrate on the mediating role of research resources such as research funding and projects. It is believed that senior titled scholars, due to their possession of substantial human and social capital, can attract abundant external resources like research topics and funding for the university, which are crucial for the university survival and development (Thomas, 2010 ). Therefore, an important consideration in the appointment of professors in American universities is the ability to obtain resources from the government and the business sector (Derek, 2015 ). It is also found that research resources tend to flow towards renowned scientists (Merton, 1968 ), and when the proportion of senior and associate senior titles reaches a certain level, research resources such as the number of projects and research funding can reach a theoretical optimal level, thereby affecting research output (Chen and Yang, 2022 ). Existing literatures provide strong support for this study, but research on the function mechanism of academic title structure on research output still needs to be deepened. Current literatures mostly explore the single pathway of research resources, which is far from sufficient. In fact, a large number of literatures have analyzed the significance of social contribution to university development (Xia et al., 2022 ; Qi, 2022 ; Wang, 2018 ; Kim, Seok ( 2016 ); Liu, 2015 ), suggesting that universities must prove their value through social contributions in order to obtain development resources (Zhou and Zhi, 2009 ). Although these studies are not directly related to academic title structure and research output, and mostly lack the empirical data, they still provide inspirations for this study, suggesting that social contribution may play both an independent mediating role and a chain mediating role through research resources in the impact of academic title structure on research output. The potential dual-role of social contribution merits further detailed investigation.

In light of this, this paper refers to existing research (Wang and Lou, 2020 ), measures social contribution by the number of scientific research awards at the provincial level and above, employs a fixed-effects model to test the chain mediating effect, and attempts to answer the following three specific questions: (1) What is the impact of the academic title structure on research output? (2) What is the function mechanism of academic title structure on research output? Is social contribution a function mechanism through which the academic title structure influences research output? If so, whether it plays an independent mediating role or a chain mediating role through research resources? (3) What are the differences in the impacts of diverse academic titles on research output? To accurately answer these questions, this study selects panel data from the materials science and engineering disciplines of 30 Chinese universities for empirical analysis. The main reason for choosing these 30 universities is that they all prioritize scientific research over teaching, making them suitable for addressing the research questions of this paper. Chinese higher education institutions include universities, colleges, and higher vocational and technical colleges. Among them, colleges focus on general education, and higher vocational colleges emphasize training in operational skills. In contrast to colleges and higher vocational colleges, which relatively focus more on teaching, the distinct characteristic of universities is their greater emphasis on scientific research. Furthermore, the materials science disciplines of all 30 Chinese universities in this study include national-level research talents in their academic title structures, ensuring comparability.

Overview of academic titles, social contributions, and research output of the study sample

Academic titles.

As can be seen in Fig. 1 , the total number of associate senior titles was slightly higher than that of senior titles throughout the study period, both of which were almost 3 times more than the total number of national-level talents. Moreover, the growth rate of both senior and associate senior titles was greater than that of national-level talents. Overall, the numbers of national-level talents, senior titles, and associate senior titles all showed steady growth, which reflects the motivational role of academic titles for researchers to some extent.

National-level talents, senior titles, and associate senior titles from 2016 to 2020.

Social contribution

From Fig. 2 , it can be observed that the social contribution (the number of scientific research awards at the provincial level and above) during the study period was not optimistic. In terms of quantity, the largest number of awards was achieved at 2019, scoring the number of 109, while there were 3648 academic titles holding the associate senior title and above in 2019, resulting in the number of awards per capita is less than 0.03. In term of trend, the number of scientific research awards has significantly declined after 2019. Scientific research awards represent the creative contributions of researchers to the economy and society (Wang and Lou, 2020 ), but their importance seems to be severely overlooked, which intensifies the necessity of this study.

Provincial-level and above research awards from 2016 to 2020.

Research output

This study uses the number of SCI papers published to evaluate research output, following the practice of the previous study (Zhang et al., 2015 ). As shown in Fig. 3 , the quantity of research output has steadily increased during the study period, reflecting the research responsibilities of universities in the new era. However, the growth rate of research output is not high. So, there is an urgent need to further explore the pathways for researchers to enhance output, in order to better adapt to the requirements of the innovation-driven development strategy for university research.

The SCI papers published from 2016 to 2020.

Theoretical analysis and research hypotheses

A rational academic title structure can positively enhance the research output of universities (Ding and He, 2021 ). On the one hand, the primary consideration for the selection of top talents and the evaluation of titles is research capability, in other words, talent titles and senior titles represent higher research output. On the other hand, top talents have completed a higher degree of knowledge innovation and research accumulation in specific research fields, which can enhance the research productivity of their teams. Bland et al. ( 2006 ) three-factor model suggests that the academic ability of research team leaders not only directly affects the research output of team members but also drives their research output by fostering research environment and atmosphere. Azoulay et al. ( 2010 ) found that after the death of an academic “superstar”, the publication rate of their team collaborators would on average continue to decline by 5–8%. It was also reported that senior titles have an absolute leading role in the quantity of research output (Liang et al., 2015 ). Accordingly, the first hypothesis of this study is proposed:

Hypothesis 1: the promotion of academic title structure on research output decreases in the following order: national-level talent proportion > senior title proportion > associate senior title proportion.

The production of high-quality research outcomes not only call for subjective factors such as self-discipline, research interest, and research capability of scholars but also require research resources such as project funding. Jacob and Lefgren ( 2011 ) found that research output of funded scholars increased by 20% in the following five years. Wang ( 2018 ) found that commercial R&D funding in American universities had a significant positive impact on research output. Meanwhile, the acquisition of research resources is also influenced by academic titles. Merton ( 1968 ) proposed the Matthew effect in science, suggesting that research resources often flow to scientists who have already proven their capabilities, and the more renowned the researchers are, the more advantages in research resources they can acquire. Based on the above analysis, the second hypothesis of this study is proposed:

Hypothesis 2: research resources play an independent mediating role between academic title structure and research output.

The fundamental reason why the acquisition of research resources is influenced by academic titles lies in the different levels of social contributions made by researchers at different levels of academic titles. Typically, The higher the academic title of researchers, the greater their social contribution. Social contribution is a way for researchers to demonstrate their value to the external community. Only when the external community recognizes the value of researchers will it provide them with the research resources (Zhou and Zhi, 2009 ). That is to say, social contribution can lead to an increase in research resources. At the same time, the social contributions of researchers mean that they have creatively solved problems encountered in human production and life. In other words, social contributions can also lead to the generation of new knowledge. Based on the above analysis, the following hypotheses are proposed:

Hypothesis 3: social contribution plays an independent mediating role between academic title structure and research output.

Hypothesis 4: social contribution and research resources play a chain mediating role between academic title structure and research output.

Research design

Sample and data.

The data for this study was collected from a survey of materials science and engineering disciplines in 30 Chinese universities, all of which could grant master and doctor degrees in the first-level discipline of materials science and engineering Footnote 1 (hereafter referred to as “materials discipline”). The reason for choosing the materials discipline as the research subject is due to its strong applicability and close connection with social production and life, which makes its social contribution more pronounced and highly applicable to this study. Therefore, selecting it as the research object is highly representative and referential. To explore the function mechanism of academic title structure on university research output, the number of academic titles at different levels, social contributions, research resources, and research output in the materials disciplines of the surveyed universities from 2016 to 2020 were collected. The survey was conducted from April to June 2022, lasting 3 months, and five years of balanced panel data were collected.

Dependent variable

The dependent variable in this study is research output. Most of studies use the number of papers to measure it (Xie and Shauman, 1998 ). Therefore, following the practice of the previous study (Zhang et al., 2015 ), the number of SCI papers published is used to measure research output.

Independent variable

The independent variable in this study is the academic title structure, mainly referring to the proportion of top talents and various academic titles in universities. The scope of the academic title in this study is the associate senior title and above, including national-level talents. Therefore, the title structure is measured by the proportion of national-level talents, senior titles, and associate senior titles in the total number of full-time teachers.

Mediating variable

Social contribution and research resources are chosen as mediating variables. (1) Social contribution. It is suggested that scientific awards represent the creative contributions of researchers to the economy and society (Wang and Lou, 2020 ). Based on the availability of data, the total number of national research awards, Outstanding Scientific Research Achievement Awards from the Chinese Ministry of Education and provincial research awards are used to represent the social contribution. The number of national research awards refers to the total of the National Natural Science Awards, the National Technological Invention Awards, and the National Science and Technology Progress Awards. (2) Research resources. Research platforms, projects, and funding are important research resources (Chen, 2023 ; Zhao et al., 2023 ; Chen and Yang, 2022 ). Therefore, indicators from three dimensions are selected to measure research resources: the number of research platforms at the provincial level and above, the number of projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and the annual research funds received. Inspired by the method of Liu and Chen ( 2023 ), the weights of the three dimensions are assigned using the equal-weight method, and a weighted average is subsequently computed to derive the assessment of research resources.

Control variables

Existing researches have shown that the level of the university, the province in which the university is located, the number of postgraduates, and the total number of full-time teachers (Chen and Yang, 2022 ; Liang et al., 2021 ) are all important factors affecting research output. Therefore, the level of the university, the province in which the university is located, the number of postgraduates, and the total number of full-time teachers are included as control variables in the model. Among them, the level of the university and the province in which the university is located are dummy variables, based on “whether it belongs to ‘Project 211’ or ‘Project 985’”, with 1 assigned if so, or with 0 assigned if not. The same assignment is made for “whether it is located in the Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou”, with 1 assigned if so, or with 0 assigned if not. Meanwhile, in order to mitigate validity issues arising from multicollinearity, the quantities of postgraduates and the number of full-time teachers are log-transformed prior to incorporation into the model. The descriptive statistics results of the relevant data are shown in Table 1 .

Research method

Econometric model.

A fixed-effects model is employed to test the chain mediating effect. Since the development plans of Chinese universities generally follow the same institutional system and value norms, and they often emulate each other in their operating models, leading to less pronounced individual differences in aspects such as campus culture and research atmosphere. Instead, the economic development status of the province where a university is located, and whether the university is classified as “Project 211” or “Project 985” have significant impact on the received development funds and policy support. Therefore, the fixed-effects model in this study refers to year-fixed effects, province fixed effects, and university level fixed effects.

The steps for testing the chain mediating effect

The chain mediating effect is a type of multiple mediating effect, where multiple mediating variables influence each other, exhibiting sequential characteristics, and forming a mediating chain. According to the sequential testing method proposed by Wen and Ye ( 2014 ), the steps for testing the chain mediating effect are as follows:

In the equations above, the coefficient c represents the total effect of the independent variable X on the dependent variable Y , \({c}^{{\prime} }\) represents the direct effect of X on Y , and M 1 and M 2 are the two mediating variables. The conditions that should be satisfied at each step are as follows:

Step 1: perform regression on Eq. ( 1 ) and test whether the coefficient \(c\) is statistically significant. If the coefficient \(c\) is significant, proceed to Step 2; if the coefficient \(c\) is insignificant, the test should be terminated.

Step 2: sequentially test the coefficient \({a}_{1}\) in Eq. ( 2 ) and the coefficient \({b}_{1}\) in Eq. ( 4 ). If the both are significant, it indicates that at least part of the effect of the independent variable \(X\) on the dependent variable \(Y\) is realized through \({M}_{1}\) , the mediating effect is established, and the indirect effect should be reported as \({a}_{1}\times {b}_{1}\) . Sequentially test the coefficient \({a}_{2}\) in Eq. ( 3 ) and the coefficient \({b}_{2}\) in Eq. ( 4 ). If the both are significant, it indicates that at least part of the effect of the independent variable \(X\) on the dependent variable \(Y\) is realized through \({M}_{2}\) , the mediating effect is established, and the indirect effect should be reported as \({a}_{2}\times {b}_{2}\) . Test the coefficient \({d}_{1}\) in Eq. ( 3 ). If it is significant, the chain indirect effect of \({M}_{1}\) and \({M}_{2}\) is significant, and the indirect effect should be reported as \({a}_{1}\times {d}_{1}\times {b}_{2}\) .

Step 3: compare the coefficient \({c}^{{\prime} }\) in Eq. ( 4 ) with the coefficient \(c\) in Eq. ( 1 ). If they have the same sign and \({c}^{{\prime} }\) is significant, it indicates that only part of the effect of the independent variable \(X\) on the dependent variable \(Y\) is realized through the mediating paths of \({M}_{1}\) and \({M}_{2}\) , so there is a partial mediating effect. If \({c}^{{\prime} }\) is insignificant, it indicates that the entire effect of \(X\) on \(Y\) is realized through the mediating paths of \({M}_{1}\) and \({M}_{2}\) , so there is a full mediating effect.

According to the above test steps and the research hypotheses hereinbefore, a theoretical model of the chain mediating effect of academic title structure on research output is built.

\({{Out}}_{{it}}\) represents the research output of university \(i\) ’s materials discipline in year \(t\) . \({{\rm{Tale}}}_{{it}}\) , \({{\rm{Seni}}}_{{it}}\) , and \({{\rm{Asso}}}_{{it}}\) respectively represent the proportions of national-level talents, senior titles, and associate senior titles in university \(i\) ’s materials discipline in year \(t\) , \({{\rm{Cont}}}_{{it}}\) represents the social contribution of university \(i\) ’s materials discipline in year \(t\) , and \({{\rm{Reso}}}_{{it}}\) represents the research resources of university \(i\) ’s materials discipline in year \(t\) . \({{Lev}}_{{it}}\) , \({{Pro}}_{{it}}\) , \({ln}{{Post}}_{{it}}\) , and \({ln}{{Ful}}_{{it}}\) are four control variables, representing the level of university \(i\) , the province of university \(i\) , and the log-transformed numbers of postgraduates and full-time teachers in year \(t\) respectively. \({\varepsilon }_{{it}}\) represents the random error term. In addition, year fixed effects, province fixed effects, and university level fixed effects are all included in the model. The function mechanism diagram of academic title structure on research output is depicted in Fig. 4 .

The function mechanism of academic title structure on research output.

As can be seen in Fig. 4 , the independent mediating effects of social contribution and research resources are \({a}_{1}\times {b}_{1}\) and \({a}_{2}\times {b}_{2}\) respectively; the chain mediating effect is \({a}_{1}\times {d}_{1}\times {b}_{2}\) , the direct effect of academic title structure on research output is \({c}^{{\prime} }\) , and the total effect of academic title structure on research output \({c=c}^{{\prime} }+{a}_{1}\times {b}_{1}+{a}_{1}\times {d}_{1}\times {b}_{2}+{a}_{2}\times {b}_{2}.\)

This study conducts regression analysis using Stata software, and the regression results are presented in Table 2 .

In Table 2 , Models (1–4) are the regression results of Eqs. ( 5 – 8 ), respectively. It can be seen that the total effect (430.20) and direct effect (292.78) of the proportion of national-level talents on research output are significant at the 1% level; the total effect (266.90) and direct effect (204.47) of the proportion of senior titles on research output are significant at the 1% and 5% levels, respectively; the total effect (−0.67) of the proportion of associate senior titles on research output is insignificant negative. It is evident that the promotion of academic title structure on research output decreases in the following order: national-level talent proportion > senior title proportion > associate senior title proportion, confirming the validity of Hypothesis 1.

Furthermore, based on the mediating effect test method proposed by Wen and Ye ( 2014 ), the test results of the mechanisms through which the proportions of associate senior titles, senior titles, and national-level talents affect research output are separately analyzed:

First, in Model (1), the total effect of the proportion of associate senior titles on research output is not significant, which does not meet the condition for proceed of the next test step, thus, the chain mediating effect test is terminated.

Second, in Model (1), the total effect of the proportion of senior titles on research output (266.90) is significant positive at the 1% level. It is determined that the coefficient \(c\) in the first step of the chain mediating effect model is significant, meeting the verification condition of the next test step. In Models (2) and (4), the regression coefficient of the proportion of senior titles on social contribution (5.16) and the regression coefficient of social contribution on research output (4.60) are both significant positive at the 10% level, confirming that both \({a}_{1}\) and \({b}_{1}\) in the second step of the chain mediating effect model are significant; in Models (3) and (4), the regression coefficient of the proportion of senior titles on research resources (6.35) and the regression coefficient of research resources on research output (4.50) are significant positive at the 10% and 5% levels, respectively, indicating that both \({a}_{2}\) and \({b}_{2}\) in the second step of the chain mediating effect model are significant; in Model (3), the regression coefficient of social contribution on research resources (0.44) is significant positive at the 1% level, manifesting that \({d}_{1}\) in the second step of the chain mediating effect model is significant. Comparing Models (1) and (4), the regression coefficients of the proportion of senior titles on research output (266.90 and 204.47) are both significant, confirming that \(c\) and \({c}^{{\prime} }\) in the third step of the chain mediating effect model are both positive and significant. It can be seen that the two mediating factors, which are social contribution and research resources, can play independent mediating roles and chain mediating role in the impact of senior titles on research output.

Third, in Model (1), the total effect of the proportion of national-level talents on research output (430.20) is significant positive at the 1% level. It can be concluded that the coefficient \(c\) in the first step of the chain mediating effect model is significant, meeting the verification condition of the next test step. In Models (2) and (4), the regression coefficient of the proportion of national-level talents on social contribution (13.33) and the regression coefficient of social contribution on research output (4.60) are significant positive at the 1% and 10% levels, respectively, indicating that both \({a}_{1}\) and \({b}_{1}\) in the second step of the chain mediating effect model are significant; in Models (3) and (4), the regression coefficient of the proportion of national-level talents on research resources (11.09) and the regression coefficient of research resources on research output (4.50) are significant positive at the 1% and 5% levels, respectively, confirming that both \({a}_{2}\) and \({b}_{2}\) in the second step of the chain mediating effect model are significant; in Model (3), the regression coefficient of social contribution on research resources (0.44) is significant positive at the 1% level, manifesting that \({d}_{1}\) in the second step of the chain mediating effect model is significant. Comparing Models (1) and (4), the regression coefficients of the proportion of national-level talents on research output (430.20 and 292.78) are both significant at the 1% level, confirming that \(c\) and \({c}^{{\prime} }\) in the third step of the chain mediating effect model are both positive and significant. It can be seen that the two mediating factors, which are social contribution and research resources, can also both play independent mediating roles and a chain mediating role in the impact of national-level talents on research output.

In summary, although it is not possible to verify the hypotheses related to the mediating effect using the proportion of associate senior titles, Hypotheses 2, 3, and 4 of this study are all validated in the impact of the proportion of national-level talents and senior titles on research output. That is, the two mediating factors, which are social contribution and research resources, can both play independent mediating role and chain mediating role in the impact of national-level talents on research output.

To further conduct an in-depth analysis, the effect levels of each mediation pathway are sorted out. The results are shown in Table 3 .

As can be seen from Table 3 , in the impact of the proportion of national-level talents and senior titles on research output, the total indirect effects account for 31.99% and 23.43% of the total effects, respectively. This proportion is not negligible, indicating that the indirect roles of social contribution and research resources are significant and should not be overlooked.

To facilitate comparative analysis, the impact processes of the proportion of national-level talents and senior titles on research output are further decomposed. The details are presented in Table 4 .

As can be seen from Table 4 , the impact of the proportion of national-level talents on social contribution (13.33) is nearly three times more than that of the proportion of senior titles (5.16); the impact of the proportion of national-level talents on research resources (11.09) is nearly twice more than that of the proportion of senior titles (6.35). This indicates that the higher the proportion of top talents in a research team of university, the stronger its ability to make social contributions and obtain research resources.

Additionally, the impact of social contribution on research resources (0.44) is significant positive at the 1% level, indicating that social contribution can positively promote the acquisition of research resources. At the same time, the impact of social contribution on research output (4.60) is greater than that of research resources (4.50). It is suggested that researchers in universities should focus more on social contributions other than research resources, demonstrating their value by meeting the real and significant need of society, thereby obtaining research resources and enhancing research output.

Conclusion and discussion

To further explore the impact of the academic title structure on research output, social contribution and research resources are firstly selected as mediating variables through literature review. Based on this, panel data from the materials disciplines of 30 Chinese universities from 2016 to 2020 were chosen as the research sample, and a fixed-effects model was subsequently used to conduct a chain mediating effect test. The results showed: (1) Both the proportion of national-level talents and that of senior titles can promote research output, with the former having a much greater effect, while the proportion of associate senior titles has an indistinctive negative correlation with research output. (2) Both the proportion of national-level talents and that of senior titles can significantly enhance research output through the chain mediating effect of social contribution and research resources, with national-level talents having a stronger ability to make social contributions and obtain research resources. (3) Social contribution is more effective than research resources in enhancing research output. These findings can provide a basis for improving the research evaluation system and reforming the conferring of academic titles.

The conclusions of this study are corroborated by previous research. Liang et al. ( 2015 ) revealed that the research output of professors, associate professors, and lecturers decreases in sequence. Although their sample selection differs from that of this study, both exhibit the same trend: higher titles promote research output more effectively than lower titles. And this trend has also been validated by Fulton and Trow ( 1974 ). Additionally, it is found in current study that the total effect of the proportion of associate senior titles on research output is insignificant negative. The study by Jin et al. ( 2022 ) provides support for the result. They found that associate professors are under the greatest pressure from quantitative assessments, and this heavy pressure distorts their academic production behavior. Regarding the role of social contribution, He ( 2010 ) posited that universities can enhance their scientific research level and technological innovation ability through serving society. Kim and Seok ( 2016 ) also believed that the social contributions of universities aid their development. These findings are in line with the conclusions of this study. In terms of the role of research resources, Ebadi and Schiffauerova ( 2016 ) argued that funding can affect research output. Gulbrandsem and Smeby ( 2005 ) found a high correlation between commercial funding and research output. Zhang et al. ( 2015 ) discovered that research groups funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China have a significantly higher number of SCI publications than those funded by other sources. Wang et al. ( 2016 ) found that the Youth Fund significantly improves the research output of young researchers. Although the types of research resources focused on in these studies are different from those in this study, the general conclusions provide important support for strengthening the conclusions of this paper.

There are three important implications in current study: (1) It provides a basis for improving the research evaluation system and reforming the conferring of academic titles. The indirect effects of social contribution and research resources on research output are clarified. Based on these findings, universities should place greater emphasis on social contributions in research evaluation and the conferring process of academic titles. They should also construct a research evaluation system based on social influence (Geng and Ouyang, 2024 ), which guides researchers to obtain research resources through social contributions, thereby enhancing research output. (2) It provides a clear path for university researchers to enhance their research output. (3) It contributes modestly to the enrichment of related theories. This study reveals the potential mechanisms through which academic title structure affects research output, and it can help to address the shortcomings of the existing literature and enrich theories related to academic titles and research output.

Policy recommendations

Based on the above findings, this study recommends improving policies for introducing high-end talents; increasing support for scholars with associate senior titles; and establishing a research evaluation system based on social influence (Geng and Ouyang, 2024 ) to guide researchers in obtaining research resources and enhancing research output through social contributions.

Universities should improve policies for introducing high-end talents to optimize talent resources. Actively introduce national-level talents and researchers with senior titles by providing support in terms of identity recognition, research funding, and team building through stratified classification (Hao and Zhang, 2021 ). Increase high-end talents proportion in university research teams to leverage their roles in contributing to society, obtaining resources, and enhancing research output.

Universities should increase support for researchers with associate senior titles. Given the insignificant negative effect of the proportion of associate senior titles on research output, it is recommended to take measures in two aspects. On one hand, encourage researchers with associate senior titles to actively participate in academic exchanges and research collaborations with top domestic and international universities to enhance their research capabilities. On the other hand, provide appropriate guidance for researchers with associate senior titles (Sun et al., 2009 ) to help them overcome research bottlenecks, alleviate the pressure of promotion assessments, and enhance research output (Jin et al., 2022 ).

Universities should construct a research evaluation system based on social influence (Geng and Ouyang, 2024 ) to guide researchers to focus on social contributions. This study finds that the indirect effects of social contribution and research resources on research output are not negligible. Especially for social contribution, it is not only more effective than research resources in enhancing research output, but also serves as a channel for obtaining research resources. Therefore, it is necessary to construct evaluation indicators that can promote social contributions (Xie and Wang, 2024 ), to guide university researchers to focus on the actual needs of economic and social development, solve real-world problems, and thereby obtain research resources and enhance research output.

Limitations and suggestions for future research

Certainly, there are some potential limitations that need to be further expanded in future. Though the sample of materials disciplines is highly representative, it is necessary to expand the research sample to other disciplines, entire universities, and even universities in different countries to explore the impact of academic title structure on research output. Furthermore, the issue of reverse causality, that higher academic titles have greater promotional effect on research output, and researchers with higher academic titles are attracted by universities with better research foundations, is also an important aspect that needs to be considered.

Data availability

The authors do not have permission to share the raw data.

The disciplines in Chinese universities are classified into three levels: discipline categories, first-level disciplines, and second-level disciplines. Taking the discipline of materials as an illustrative example, its category belongs to Engineering. Materials Science and Engineering is a first-level discipline under the category of Engineering, and within this first-level discipline, there are also second-level disciplines such as Materials Physics and Chemistry, and Materials Processing Engineering. If master and doctor degrees are granted based on the first-level discipline rather than the second-level discipline, it suggests that the research strength of the discipline is relatively strong.

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School of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

Mengmeng Zhang, Liyuan Liu, Dongmei Zeng & Xiaoying Li

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Mengmeng Zhang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-Original draft. Liyuan Liu: Visualization, Software, Validation. Dongmei Zeng: Administration, Resources. Xiaoying Li: Reviewing, Resources. Correspondence to Dongmei Zeng or Xiaoying Li.

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Zhang, M., Liu, L., Zeng, D. et al. Impact of academic title structure of university research teams on research output: evidence from 30 Chinese universities. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 769 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03294-w

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Received : 09 October 2023

Accepted : 07 June 2024

Published : 17 June 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03294-w

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