Rodriguez, V; Janssens, F; Debackere, K; De Moor, B On material transfer agreements and visibility of researchers in biotechnology JOURNAL OF INFORMETRICS, 2 (1): 89-100 2008

Wed Apr 2 16:32:08 EDT 2008

E-mail Address: victor.rodriguez at econ.kuleuven.be 

Author(s): Rodriguez, V (Rodriguez, Victor); Janssens, F (Janssens, 
Frizo); Debackere, K (Debackere, Koenraad); De Moor, B (De Moor, Bart) 

Title: On material transfer agreements and visibility of researchers in 
biotechnology 

Source: JOURNAL OF INFORMETRICS, 2 (1): 89-100 2008 

Language: English 

Document Type: Article 

Author Keywords: bibliometrics; research material; scientific reputation; 
h-index; biotechnology; material transfer agreement 

Keywords Plus: HIGHLY CITED PAPERS; BIBLIOMETRIC INDICATORS; CHEMISTRY 
RESEARCH; SCIENCE; CITATION; SCIENTISTS; INDEX; PUBLICATION; OUTPUT; NOBEL 

Abstract: When carrying out a research project, some materials may not be 
available in-house. Thus, investigators resort to external providers for 
conducting their research. To that end, the exchange may be formalised 
through material transfer agreements. In this context, industry, 
government and academia have their own specific expectations regarding 
compensation for the help they provide when transferring the research 
material. This paper assesses whether these contracts might have had an 
impact on visibility of researchers. Visibility is thereby operationalised 
on the basis of a bibliometric approach. In the sample utilised, 
researchers that availed themselves of these contracts were more visible 
compared to those who did not use them, controlling for seniority and co-
authorship. Nonetheless, providers and receivers could not be 
differentiated in terms of visibility but by research sector and co-
authorship. Being a user of these contracts might, to some extent, be the 
reflection of systematic differences in the stratification of science 
based on visibility. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 

Addresses: Katholieke Univ Leuven, Dept Managerial Econ Strategy & 
Innovat, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium; Katholieke Univ Leuven, Dept Elect Engn, 
B-3001 Louvain, Belgium 

Reprint Address: Rodriguez, V, Katholieke Univ Leuven, Dept Managerial 
Econ Strategy & Innovat, Naamsestr 69, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium. 

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Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 

Publisher Address: PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS 

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