Ian Hutchins
@bihutchins.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at UW-Madison’s Information School. Previously NIH data scientist-developed iCite (http://icite.od.nih.gov) & NIH Open Citation Collection https://hutchinslab.github.io
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
What defines research impact?
New research shows that many of the most influential papers appear in lower-tier journals, highlighting why article-level metrics matter for recognizing individual contributions.
Read more in @plosbiology.org: plos.io/4p5jRfH
New research shows that many of the most influential papers appear in lower-tier journals, highlighting why article-level metrics matter for recognizing individual contributions.
Read more in @plosbiology.org: plos.io/4p5jRfH
Are authors fairly judged by assessing the #journals in which their work is published? @bihutchins.bsky.social &co reveal that most influential papers are published in lower tier journals, and more authors would be better recognized with #ArticleLevelMetrics #ALMs @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oV58Ed
December 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM
What defines research impact?
New research shows that many of the most influential papers appear in lower-tier journals, highlighting why article-level metrics matter for recognizing individual contributions.
Read more in @plosbiology.org: plos.io/4p5jRfH
New research shows that many of the most influential papers appear in lower-tier journals, highlighting why article-level metrics matter for recognizing individual contributions.
Read more in @plosbiology.org: plos.io/4p5jRfH
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Happy Monday before Christmas! We’ve almost made it through the year. But before we wrap it up, I have one more paper to add to your holiday reading list 1/
December 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Happy Monday before Christmas! We’ve almost made it through the year. But before we wrap it up, I have one more paper to add to your holiday reading list 1/
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
I want to point out this is consistent with our recent paper on breakthroughs in biomedical science, which found that transformative advances made 2014-2017 were more clinically oriented than those made 1994-1997 (read that paper here) 9/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Prediction of transformative breakthroughs in biomedical research
The ability to predict scientific breakthroughs at scale would accelerate the pace of discovery and improve the efficiency of research investments. Recent advances in artificial intelligence, graph th...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I want to point out this is consistent with our recent paper on breakthroughs in biomedical science, which found that transformative advances made 2014-2017 were more clinically oriented than those made 1994-1997 (read that paper here) 9/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
To start developing an understanding of how to support scientific advances, we analyzed the funding opportunities offered over a span of 32 years, together with the resulting portfolio of applications and awards. Read the whole story here: 7/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A thirty-year trend of increasing clinical orientation at the National Institutes of Health
It is widely recognized that funding for biomedical research supports the development of major medical advances. However, little systematic effort has been made to determine whether a link exists betw...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 8:32 PM
To start developing an understanding of how to support scientific advances, we analyzed the funding opportunities offered over a span of 32 years, together with the resulting portfolio of applications and awards. Read the whole story here: 7/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Prediction of transformative breakthroughs in biomedical research https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694385v1
December 18, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Prediction of transformative breakthroughs in biomedical research https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694385v1
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Article-level metrics preferable for author recognition than journal-level metrics 🧪 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Most researchers would receive more recognition if assessed by article-level metrics than by journal-level metrics
Are authors fairly judged by assessment of the prestige of the journals in which their work is published? This study compares article level metrics with journal level metrics, finding that the vast ma...
journals.plos.org
December 20, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Article-level metrics preferable for author recognition than journal-level metrics 🧪 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Do the journals you publish in align with your values?
We push for an alternative to traditional journals that perpetuate a system of prestige and skewed incentives.
We push for an alternative to traditional journals that perpetuate a system of prestige and skewed incentives.
December 20, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Do the journals you publish in align with your values?
We push for an alternative to traditional journals that perpetuate a system of prestige and skewed incentives.
We push for an alternative to traditional journals that perpetuate a system of prestige and skewed incentives.
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
"In other words, basing our approach on journallevel metrics would generate enough noise to make the signal of a future breakthrough difficult or impossible to detect. " On a similar note: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
December 19, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"In other words, basing our approach on journallevel metrics would generate enough noise to make the signal of a future breakthrough difficult or impossible to detect. " On a similar note: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
This is a very cool story
Today is a big day.
After many years of work, I’m excited to finally share a paper describing a novel approach to identifying potential breakthroughs in biomedical research, up to twelve years before the breakthrough itself occurs. 1/15
After many years of work, I’m excited to finally share a paper describing a novel approach to identifying potential breakthroughs in biomedical research, up to twelve years before the breakthrough itself occurs. 1/15
December 18, 2025 at 9:20 PM
This is a very cool story
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
"A combination of features produces these diagnostic signals: a burst of papers exploring a novel scientific concept, an unusually high number of very influential papers in specialty journals, and low topical cohesion of the associated content."
We found an additional 19 signals when we analyzed the data for 2014-2017. To learn more about those predicted breakthroughs, one of which has already won a Lasker award, read the preprint! 11/15
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Prediction of transformative breakthroughs in biomedical research
The ability to predict scientific breakthroughs at scale would accelerate the pace of discovery and improve the efficiency of research investments. Recent advances in artificial intelligence, graph th...
www.biorxiv.org
December 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
"A combination of features produces these diagnostic signals: a burst of papers exploring a novel scientific concept, an unusually high number of very influential papers in specialty journals, and low topical cohesion of the associated content."
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Today is a big day.
After many years of work, I’m excited to finally share a paper describing a novel approach to identifying potential breakthroughs in biomedical research, up to twelve years before the breakthrough itself occurs. 1/15
After many years of work, I’m excited to finally share a paper describing a novel approach to identifying potential breakthroughs in biomedical research, up to twelve years before the breakthrough itself occurs. 1/15
December 18, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Today is a big day.
After many years of work, I’m excited to finally share a paper describing a novel approach to identifying potential breakthroughs in biomedical research, up to twelve years before the breakthrough itself occurs. 1/15
After many years of work, I’m excited to finally share a paper describing a novel approach to identifying potential breakthroughs in biomedical research, up to twelve years before the breakthrough itself occurs. 1/15
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Are authors fairly judged by assessing the #journals in which their work is published? @bihutchins.bsky.social &co reveal that most influential papers are published in lower tier journals, and more authors would be better recognized with #ArticleLevelMetrics #ALMs @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oV58Ed
December 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Are authors fairly judged by assessing the #journals in which their work is published? @bihutchins.bsky.social &co reveal that most influential papers are published in lower tier journals, and more authors would be better recognized with #ArticleLevelMetrics #ALMs @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oV58Ed
Can scientists get a fair shake publishing solid work in specialty journals? Definitely if article metrics were used; many such papers are revealed to be as influential as papers from high tier journals 1/4 #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #NIH #NSF #OpenScience journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Most researchers would receive more recognition if assessed by article-level metrics than by journal-level metrics
Are authors fairly judged by assessment of the prestige of the journals in which their work is published? This study compares article level metrics with journal level metrics, finding that the vast ma...
journals.plos.org
December 18, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Can scientists get a fair shake publishing solid work in specialty journals? Definitely if article metrics were used; many such papers are revealed to be as influential as papers from high tier journals 1/4 #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #NIH #NSF #OpenScience journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
When the study confirms intuition:
"We find that the number of papers cited at least as well as those appearing in high-impact factor journals vastly exceeds the number of papers published in such venues."
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003532
Decades […]
"We find that the number of papers cited at least as well as those appearing in high-impact factor journals vastly exceeds the number of papers published in such venues."
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003532
Decades […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
December 17, 2025 at 7:19 PM
When the study confirms intuition:
"We find that the number of papers cited at least as well as those appearing in high-impact factor journals vastly exceeds the number of papers published in such venues."
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003532
Decades […]
"We find that the number of papers cited at least as well as those appearing in high-impact factor journals vastly exceeds the number of papers published in such venues."
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003532
Decades […]
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
Are authors fairly judged by assessing the #journals in which their work is published? @bihutchins.bsky.social &co reveal that most influential papers are published in lower tier journals, and more authors would be better recognized with #ArticleLevelMetrics #ALMs @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oV58Ed
December 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Are authors fairly judged by assessing the #journals in which their work is published? @bihutchins.bsky.social &co reveal that most influential papers are published in lower tier journals, and more authors would be better recognized with #ArticleLevelMetrics #ALMs @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oV58Ed
Journal prestige overlooks most influential papers. Our analysis shows that top impact factor journals only catch a small fraction of equally influential articles. There's a lot more science deserving of recognition! #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Most researchers would receive more recognition if assessed by article-level metrics than by journal-level metrics
Are authors fairly judged by assessment of the prestige of the journals in which their work is published? This study compares article level metrics with journal level metrics, finding that the vast ma...
journals.plos.org
December 16, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Journal prestige overlooks most influential papers. Our analysis shows that top impact factor journals only catch a small fraction of equally influential articles. There's a lot more science deserving of recognition! #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Ian Hutchins
@aatishb.bsky.social got me on the record. “My colleagues did an outstanding job to work their butts off to approve things.” I swear it's true. It's still true at #NIH.
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:25 PM
@aatishb.bsky.social got me on the record. “My colleagues did an outstanding job to work their butts off to approve things.” I swear it's true. It's still true at #NIH.