# Achieving competitive advantage in academia through early career coauthorship with top scientists

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.04619 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.04619/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 11 Jun 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [AI-Driven Automation Can Become the Foundation of Next-Era Science of Science Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.12039/) (2025)
- [Forecasting Faculty Placement from Patterns in Co-authorship Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.14696/) (2025)
- [Bridging Through Absence: How Comeback Researchers Bridge Knowledge Gaps Through Structural Re-emergence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.21926/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We quantify the long term impact that the coauthorship with established top-cited scientists has on the career of junior researchers in four different scientific disciplines. Through matched pair analysis, we find that junior researchers who coauthor work with top scientists enjoy a persistent competitive advantage throughout the rest of their careers with respect to peers with similar early career profiles. Such a competitive advantage materialises as a higher probability of repeatedly coauthoring work with top-cited scientists, and, ultimately, as a higher probability of becoming one. Notably, we find that the coauthorship with a top scientist has the strongest impact on the careers of junior researchers affiliated with less prestigious institutions. As a consequence, we argue that such institutions may hold vast amounts of untapped potential, which may be realised by improving access to top scientists.