Research incentives and research output

This paper first briefly reviews the worldwide development of the size of the university sector, its research merits and authorities’ use of incentive systems for its academic staff. Then, the paper develops a static model of a researcher’s behaviour, aiming to discuss how different salary reward schemes and teaching obligations influence his or her research merits. Moreover, special focus is placed on discussing the importance of the researcher’s skills and of working in solid academic environments for quality research. The main findings are as follows: First, research achievements will improve irrespective of the relative impact quantity and quality of research have on researchers’ salaries. Second, small changes in fixed salary and teaching duties will not influence the amount of time academics spend on research and, as such, their research merits. Third, because research productivity, i.e. the number of pages written and research quality increase with the researcher’s skills and effort, both these figures signal a researcher’s potential when adjusting for his or her age and the kind of research carried out. Finally, because researchers’ utility depends on factors beyond salary and leisure time, employers have a number of instruments to use in order to attract skilled researchers in a globalised market.     

FROM THE LITERATURE: DIGITAL LIBRARIES

VisualDx is a clinical decision support tool that uses images and searchable clinical features to assist physicians in the diagnostic decision-making process. VisualDx is a database of more than 24,000 high-quality images covering a wide variety of conditions and drug eruptions. In addition, VisualDx integrates within both UpToDate and many electronic medical records and features a mobile version. This column includes a sample search and a review of the features of VisualDx.