Analysis of an advisor-advisee relationship: an exploratory study of the area of exact and Earth sciences in Brazil

PLoS One. 2015 May 26;10(5):e0129065. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129065. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Scientific collaboration has been studied by researchers for decades. Several approaches have been adopted to address the question of how collaboration has evolved in terms of publication output, numbers of coauthors, and multidisciplinary trends. One particular type of collaboration that has received very little attention concerns advisor and advisee relationships. In this paper, we examine this relationship for the researchers who are involved in the area of Exact and Earth Sciences in Brazil and its eight subareas. These pairs are registered in the Lattes Platform that manages the individual curricula vitae of Brazilian researchers. The individual features of these academic researchers and their coauthoring relationships were investigated. We have found evidence that there exists positive correlation between time of advisor-advisee relationship with the advisee's productivity. Additionally, there has been a gradual decline in advisor-advisee coauthoring over a number of years as measured by the Kulczynski index, which could be interpreted as decline of the dependence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Authorship
  • Bibliometrics
  • Brazil
  • Earth Sciences
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations*
  • Mentors
  • Research Personnel*

Grants and funding

This research project was partially funded by Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, http://www.capes.gov.br/) grant N.BEX 8354/13-8 and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, www.cnpq.br) grants 306046/2013-0 and 477246/2013-3. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.