Particle physics facing a pandemic

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic affected particle physics research publication trends by analyzing 20 years of data from INSPIRE and arXiv, highlighting shifts due to pandemic-related disruptions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of publishing trends in high-energy physics during the pandemic, offering insights into the community's response to global disruptions.

Findings

Pandemic caused a temporary decline in conference and workshop activities.

Research publication rates showed resilience and adaptation over time.

Shift towards online dissemination and collaboration was observed.

Abstract

Our ordinary life changed quite a bit in March of 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. While spring time in general well awaited and regarded as a synonym for rejuvenation the spring of 2020 brought lock-down, curfew, home office and digital education to the lives of many. The particle physics community was not an exception: research institutes and universities introduced home office and digital lecturing and all workshops, conferences and summer schools were canceled, got postponed or took place online. Using publicly available data from the INSPIRE and arXiv databases we investigate the effects of this dramatic change of life to the publishing trends of the high-energy physics community with an emphasis on particle phenomenology and theory. To get insights we gather information about publishing trends in the last 20 years, and analyse it in detail.