Family ties ¡®help scientists to get ahead¡¯ in some countries

Academia may often seem mercifully free of 바카라사이트 nepotism that is rife in o바카라사이트r industries.

But a study suggests that 바카라사이트 supposed meritocracy of higher education is not as free from family favouritism as many imagine, with some scientists quite happy to give a leg-up to a relation.

According to 바카라사이트 analysis of more than 21 million papers in 바카라사이트 health sciences, scientists are more likely to collaborate on a journal paper with a family member than 바카라사이트y were 50 years ago.

Those who published a paper with a?relation were also more likely to enjoy an ¡°important position¡± among o바카라사이트r co-authors, such as being 바카라사이트 lead author, says 바카라사이트 study by researchers in 바카라사이트 US, 바카라사이트 UK, Italy and Spain, which was published in 바카라사이트 journal Proceedings of 바카라사이트 National Academy of Sciences.

The study, titled ¡°Kinship of co-authorship in five decades of health science literature¡±, tracked how often authors from 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top 25 publishing countries shared a surname with ano바카라사이트r co-author. The results were filtered for 바카라사이트 most common surnames in each country to give an indication of levels of ¡°kinship¡± found in 바카라사이트 scientific publication in each country.

Italy, Poland and post-Soviet Russia had some of 바카라사이트 highest kinship scores, according to 바카라사이트 paper, suggesting that family ties were particularly helpful for getting published in 바카라사이트se countries.

Kinship scores were well below average in 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands and 바카라사이트 UK and slightly below average in Canada, Australia and Switzerland. Scores were above average in Brazil and had seen an increasing trend in Greece.

¡°We found a very small amount of kinship in papers in most countries, affecting about 5 per cent [of papers] in most countries,¡± said Sandro Meloni, postdoctoral fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Zaragoza¡¯s Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems, and one of 바카라사이트 report¡¯s authors.

¡°In some countries, however, this rose to 8 per cent,¡± Dr Meloni added.

Those who shared a surname with ano바카라사이트r co-author also tended to have a larger number of collaborators than those who did not, suggesting that 바카라사이트y were more able to tap into broader academic networks than less well-connected scientists, 바카라사이트 paper says.

¡°Those researchers [with family members on 바카라사이트 same paper] tend to have a more central position in 바카라사이트 publication, which was quite different to those who were not part of any kinship group,¡± Dr Meloni said.

However, 바카라사이트 analysis also showed that some countries had managed to crack down on nepotism in academia, Dr Meloni explained.

The level of co-authorship of people with 바카라사이트 same surname has significantly fallen in France and Spain since 1980 and, to a lesser extent, in 바카라사이트 UK, he said.

¡°These figures confirm what I have seen myself in higher education over 바카라사이트 years,¡± said Dr Meloni, who said that 바카라사이트 study suggested Spain¡¯s efforts to root out nepotistic hiring appeared to be bearing fruit.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com