Is culture related to strong science? An empirical investigation

TL;DR

This study examines how national cultural factors relate to research impact, finding that cultural values like self-expression influence citation metrics even after accounting for confounding factors.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking specific cultural dimensions, especially self-expression values, to research citation impact, highlighting cultural influences on scientific quality.

Findings

Self-expression values are positively associated with citation impact.

Uncertainty avoidance and power distance negatively relate to citation impact.

The association of Hofstede's dimensions with citation impact disappears after controlling for confounders.

Abstract

National culture is among those societal factors which could influence research and innovation activities. In this study, we investigated the associations of two national culture models with citation impact of nations (measured by the proportion of papers belonging to the 10% and 1% most cited papers in the corresponding fields, PPtop 10% and PPtop 1%). Bivariate statistical analyses showed that of six Hofstede's national culture dimensions (HNCD), uncertainty avoidance and power distance had a statistically significant negative associa-tion, while individualism and indulgence had a statistically significant positive associationwith both citation impact indicators. The study also revealed that of two Inglehart-Welzel cultural values (IWCV), the value survival versus self-expression is statistically significantly related to citation impact indicators. We additionally calculated multiple regression analyses controlling for the possible effects of confounding factors including national self-citations, international co-authorships, invest-ments in research and development, international migrant stock, number of researchers ofeach nation, language, and productivity. The results revealed that the statistically significant associations of HNCD with citation impact indicators disappeared. But the statistically significant relationship between survivals versus self-expression values and citation impact indicators remained stable even after controlling for the confounding variables. Thus, the freedom of expression and trust in society might contribute to better scholarly communication systems, higher level of international collaborations, and further quality research.