2025/09/01 by Rikuei Kaku, Kaku, Rikuei, Mikako Bito +8
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Decision Sciences · #Basic research #Broad spectrum #Citation #Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration #Paradigm shift #Philosophy and History of Science #Position (finance) #Position paper #cs.DL #scientometrics and bibliometrics research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.01530
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University)
openalex publication_date 2025/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Despite broad acclaim for basic research, science is undergoing an applied shift that marginalizes basic scientists. This gap reflects an incomplete understanding of their distinctive roles, which prevents translating philosophical appreciation into effective support. We introduce a scalable metric--the application score--to position research along the basic-applied spectrum and apply it to 62 million publications (1970-2023) to reveal the distinctive contributions of basic scientists. We find a structural asymmetry: involvement of basic scientists substantially increases citation impact, even more so in applied contexts, while applied scientists show no such effect in basic domains. This asymmetric effect arises from their intellectual leadership in conceptualization, writing, and experimental design, amplified in large, multidisciplinary, and intermediate career teams. Yet basic scientists remain concentrated in historically prestigious institutions, while new entrants shift toward applied work, indicating critical undersupply. These findings provide large-scale evidence for the indispensable role of basic scientists, guiding policy and institutional strategy to sustain the foundations of discovery and innovation.