Nature has issued an editorial to a recent study that identified a “pivot penalty” affecting researchers who changed their field of study. Through an analysis of 25.8M papers published and 1.7M patents granted between 1970 and 2015, Ryan Hill et al discovered a “pervasive ‘pivot penalty’” in which scientists who changed fields saw a steep decline in the impact of their research in the new field. The authors found that this penalty was universal across fields, career stages, productivity, and other contextual factors, and has become more noticeable over time. Nature says that this matter must be addressed, as a willingness to explore new fields should be incentivized, encouraged, and celebrated. “The world needs researchers to be able to hop outside their areas of specialism, even if only once in a while, without a penalty to their career,” says Nature.
