Slow recognition of seminal papers and fast growth of author connectivity in economics

Abstract

A bird’s-eye view of the economics literature and its temporal evolution during the last three decades is provided by analysing titles, abstracts, keywords, reference lists and author affiliations of nearly 204,000 economics papers. Major divisions of the literature are objectively identified through exploring patterns of term co-mention in their titles and abstracts. Temporal research trends are also quantified, and influential references are determined through patterns of co-citation of references in the reference lists of these papers. Analyses show that the literature of economics tends to lag in the adoption of emerging research and is reliant on a traditional knowledge base. Of more than 1,250 references that have had a local burst of citation, the average and maximum gap between their publication year and the onset of recognition has been respectively 10 and 47 years. Influential economics papers typically have to wait for a decade before their recognition comes along, and this phenomenon has intensified over the last three decades. Another observation is the sharp rise in author connectivity and globalisation in economics research. International collaboration in the field of economics shows a distinct acceleration since 2013. If current trend continues, in few years, the number of internationally collaborated economics papers published each year will surpass that of domestically produced papers. Economists may be traditionalists, in that, they are hesitant in giving recognition to new research or creating new research trends, but they cannot be considered insular, as they have become notably well-connected and collaborative.