Smaller, More-Homogeneous Research Groups Are More Productive per Researcher

Research organizations like to increase team size to bring in new ideas, but a study of 549 research groups shows that in teams consisting of people from multiple disciplines, the published output per researcher in 13-person groups was 42% lower, on average, than in five-person groups, says a team led by Jonathon N. Cummings of Duke University. The greater the heterogeneity in disciplines, the less effective it was for groups to increase their size. In interviews, team members in large, heterogeneous groups complained of lack of familiarity and personal chemistry with colleagues and problems in communication, the researchers say.