Success in science, especially in research, is not dependent on how young or old a person is. That is what a team of researchers found out after assessing 10,000 high-impact research papers made by various scientists across seven disciplines in 20 years.
A team of researchers examined the scientists as well as their published works in the fields of chemistry, physics, economics, cognitive science and other branches of science. They found out that each of the scientists published their most successful paper happened at different points along the timelines.
Along with this discovery, there are also two things in common among these scientists: persistence and the Q factor.
One of the researchers, Roberta Sinatra from the Northeastern University, said that persistence is synonymous to luck, like a person rolling a die or buying a lottery ticket. That means the more people try, the more chances they have.
Q factor, on the other hand, is the ability of the scientist to get an idea and turn it into a discovery. It is the combination of education, ability and knowledge. This is also at odds with the common myth that the more experience people have, the more successful they will become.
Rather, a scientist with a high Q level is someone who gets consistent results and continues to publish regularly. When this happens, a high-impact paper is just around the corner. Thus, a person's Q factor can also be used as an indicator of whether a scientist or a person can be successful or not.
Albert-László Barabási, the lead researcher of the study, said that by understanding the law and patterns that are at work in our careers can cause a scientist to produce significant scientific output.
With all things said and done, the lesson of the study is simple: giving up is not an option if a person wants to be successful in life. No one can tell that person what he can or cannot do. Moreover, it is never too early or too late to be successful.
