Age and the Nobel prize revisited

Paula Stephan; Sharon Levin

doi:10.1007/bf02026517

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Scientometrics

Volume/Issue:: Volume 28: Issue 3

Age and the Nobel prize revisited

Authors:

Paula Stephan

Paula Stephan Georgia State University Policy Research Center 30303 Atlanta Ga. USA 30303 Atlanta Ga. USA

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Sharon Levin

Sharon Levin University of Missouri-St. Department of Economics Louis USA Louis USA

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Pages:: 387–399

Online Publication Date:: 15 Aug 2005

Publication Date:: 26 Nov 1993

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02026517

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between age and productivity for Nobel prize winners in science during the period 1901–1992. The relationship found is field dependent as well as dependent upon the definition used to measure the age at which the ward-winning work was done. The results suggest that although it does not require extraordinary youth to do prizewinning work, the odds decrease markedly in mid-life and fall off precipitously after age 50, particularly in chemistry and physics. The discussion underscores the problem of drawing conclusions about the age structure of research by examining medians instead of the entire distribution.

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Scientometrics

Print ISSN:: 0138-9130

Online ISSN:: 1588-2861

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Scientometrics
Language	English
Size	B5
Year of Foundation	1978
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	12
Founder	Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245. CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	0138-9130 (Print)
ISSN	1588-2861 (Online)