This paper investigates the relationship between surprising breakthroughs in science and technology and their impact. Using a hypergraph model to analyze tens of millions of research papers and patents, the authors demonstrate that unexpected combinations of research content and context predict high impact (top 10% of citations). These surprising advances often arise from collaborations between scientists from distant disciplines, highlighting the role of 'scientific outsiders' in driving innovation.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Mar 24, 2023
Authors
Feng Shi, James Evans
Tags
breakthroughs
innovation
collaboration
research
science
technology
impact
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