The determinants of research output and impact: A study of Mexican researchers

This paper uses a unique data set of Mexican researchers to explore the determinants of research output and impact. Our findings confirm a quadratic relationship between age and the number of published papers. However, publishing peaks when researchers are approximately 53 years old, 5 or 10 years later than what prior studies have shown. Overall, the results suggest that age does not have a substantial influence on research output and impact. We also find that reputation matters for the number of citations but not publications. Results also show important heterogeneity across areas of knowledge. Interpretations of other aspects, such as gender, country of PhD, and cohort effect, among others, are also discussed. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.