Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the research environment and motivation of researchers in Japan

Yasuhiro Miki; Natsuko Chubachi; Fumihiko Imamura; Nobuo Yaegashi; Kiyoshi Ito

doi:10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100128

Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the research environment and motivation of researchers in Japan

Prog Disaster Sci. 2020 Dec:8:100128. doi: 10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100128. Epub 2020 Oct 21.

Authors

Yasuhiro Miki¹, Natsuko Chubachi², Fumihiko Imamura³, Nobuo Yaegashi⁴, Kiyoshi Ito^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Research Field of Disaster Obstetrics and Gynecology, International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
² Public Relations Office, International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
³ Research Field of Tsunami Engineering, International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
⁵ Disaster Medical Science Group, Core Research Cluster of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.

Abstract

The environment surrounding researchers has changed significantly in the face of COVID-19 restrictions. An online self-reported questionnaire was completed by 10,557 participants between June 15 and 19, 2020. The impact on work/research activities and harassments under COVID-19 conditions was higher among researchers (1963) compared to non-researchers (8572). We further examined the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on 300 researchers. Women were significantly more likely to report being harassed than males. The overall "decrease in research motivation" was higher in women. The restrictions on research activities because of COVID-19 restrictions caused future anxiety and a decrease in research motivation.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disaster science; Harassment; Motivation; Researcher.