Figure 1

Collaborative careers. (A) The publication histories of Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Each point represents a research paper written by Geim (green triangles), Novoselov (blue inverted triangles), and both of them together (red circles). We measured the impact of a paper, \(\tilde{c}_{10}\), using the normalized citation count for 10 years after its publication (see Methods), and present the distribution of each type of paper on the right along with their geometric means (dashed horizontal lines). At first glance, Geim and Novoselov have tended to produce more impactful publications when they collaborate than when they work separately. (B) The publication histories of the other two anonymous scientists. Each point represents a research paper written by A (green triangles), B (blue inverted triangles), and both of them together (red circles). In contrast to (A), their collaboration seems to result in negative effects, but confirming their synergy type requires untangling confounding factors