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What factors influence research impact? An empirical study on the interplay of research, publications, researchers, institutions, and national conditions

Mudassar Hassan Arsalan

Mudassar Hassan Arsalan

School of Computer, Data and Mathematical Sciences, Western Sydney UniversitySydney, Australia
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Arsalan, Mudassar Hassan
, 
Omar Mubin

Omar Mubin

School of Computer, Data and Mathematical Sciences, Western Sydney UniversitySydney, Australia
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Mubin, Omar
, 
Abdullah Al Mahmud

Abdullah Al Mahmud

Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University of TechnologyMelbourne, Australia
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Mahmud, Abdullah Al
 and 
Sajida Perveen

Sajida Perveen

School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Queensland University of TechnologyBrisbane, Australia
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Perveen, Sajida
  
Dec 11, 2024
What factors influence research impact? An empirical study on the interplay of research, publications, researchers, institutions, and national conditions's Cover Image
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Article Category: Research Papers
Published Online: Dec 11, 2024
Page range: 188 - 227
Received: Jun 29, 2024
Accepted: Nov 06, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2025-0001
Keywords
© 2025 Mudassar Hassan Arsalan et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1.

Interaction among research contribution factors.
Interaction among research contribution factors.

Figure 2.

The conceptual Quintuple Helix Model for research impact.
The conceptual Quintuple Helix Model for research impact.

Figure 3.

Spatial distribution of respondents.
Spatial distribution of respondents.

Figure 4.

Researcher survey results: (A) Experience, (B) Publications, (C) Citations, and (D) Correlations between these metrics.
Researcher survey results: (A) Experience, (B) Publications, (C) Citations, and (D) Correlations between these metrics.

Figure 5.

Comparison of mean scores for research impact factors across different groups.
Comparison of mean scores for research impact factors across different groups.

Figure 6.

Optimised Path Model (OPM).
Optimised Path Model (OPM).

Factors having significant mean differences (MD) within groups_

Group Var♣ Statistics ES η2 Group Var♣ Statistics ES η2 Group Var♣ Statistics ES Cohen’s -d
PRA # P3 F(3. 626)=3.733. p=.011* .018 Citations # R1 F(3. 626)=3.542. p=.014* .017 Gender ## Rl t(628)=-3.921. p=.000** -.323
RR2 F(3. 626)=4.193. p=.006* .020 RR5 F(3. 626)=2.922. p=. 033 * .014 R2 t(628)=-3.106. p=.002* -.255
P-A F(3. 626)=3.225. p=. 022 * .015 RR6 F(3. 626)=2.904. p=.034* .014 R3 t(628)=-3.044. p=.002* -.250
Publications # Rl F(3. 626)=2.793. p=.040* .013 R-A F(3. 626)=2.718. p=.044* .013 R4 t(628)=-3.088. p=.002* -.254
P4 F(3. 626)=4.044. p=.007* .019 RR-A F(3. 626)=5.63l. p=.001* .026 R5 t(628)=-3.194. p=.001* -.263
RR-A F(3. 626)=4.524. p=. 004 * .021 P-A F(3. 626)=2.713. p=.044* .013 P2 t(628)=-2.934. p=.003* -.241
P-A F(3. 626)=3.520. p=.015* .017 T-A F(3. 626)=2.899. p=.034* .014 P3 t(628)=-2.582. p=.010* -.212
T-A F(3. 626)=3.801. p=.010* .018 Region # Rl F(3. 626)=4.356. p=.005* .020 P4 t(628)=-2.591. p=.010* -.213
Experience # RR2 F(3. 626)=3.627. p=.013* .017 R3 F(3. 626)=9.081. p=.000* .042 P5 t(628)=-3.316. p=.001* -.273
RR4 F(3. 626)=2.866. p=.036* .014 R4 F(3. 626)=4.]04. p=.007* .019 R-A t(628)=-3.88]. p=.000** -.319
RR6 F(3. 626)=4.859. p=. 002 * .023 R5 F(3. 626) = 7.539. p=.000** .035 P-A t(628)=-3.417. p=.001* -.281
RR-A F(3. 626)=8.415. p=.000** .039 P5 F(3. 626)=2.683. p=. 046* .013 T-A t(628)=-2.86].p=.004* -.235
T-A F(3. 626)=3.495. p=.015* .016 R-A F(3. 626)=8.123. p=.000** .037
P-A F(3. 626)=2.990. p=.030* .014
T-A F(3. 626)=4.597. p=.003* .022

Factor categories, variables and reliability_

Factor Groups (FGs) Description Variable Reliability
Researcher Academic experience RR1 Cronbach’s α = 0.588
Affiliation and memberships RR2
Demographic characteristics RR3 After excluding RR1, RR3 & RR8 Cronbach’s α = 0.813
Domain knowledge RR4
Involvement in multidisciplinary research RR5
Personality traits RR6
Understanding of the research system RR7
Teamwork, collaboration, networking, and joint publications RR8
Research Monodisciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research R1 Cronbach’s α =.896
Niche vs popular research areas R2
Qualitative and quantitative research R3
Research target audiences such as academicians, users, policymakers R4
Basic and applied research R5
Publication Post-publication Research Promotion, Showcasing and Social Media Sharing P1 Cronbach’s α =.846
Open Access vs Subscription-based Publication P2
Pre-publication Presentations and Discussions of Research Outcomes in Conferences, Seminars, Webinars, and Preprints P3
Ranking and Impact Factor of Publication Venues P4
Publication Venues such as Reports, Journal Articles, Books/Chapters, Patents, Conference Papers, Online Blog P5
Institutional Appropriate time allocation I1 Cronbach’s α =0.621
Leadership, high values and strict policies I2 After excluding I1 & I5
Support, facilities, resources and libraries I3 Cronbach’s α = 0.847
Organised Research Training, Workshops and Mentorship I4
Recognition and rewards I5
Research funding I6
National Budgets, Fiscal Policies, and Public-Private Financial Resources for R&D N1 Cronbach’s α = 0.711
Demography and social structure N2 After excluding N5
Economy, Resources, Industrialisation, and Level of Urbanisation N3 Cronbach’s α = 0.828
Government Policies and Interventions N4
Political structure N5
Mean scores Average of research factors group R-A
Average of researcher factors group RR-A
Average of publication factors group P-A
Average of institutional factors group I-A
Average of national factors group N-A
Average of all factors T-A

Distribution of participants_

PRA Male Female Total Regions
Count PRA % Gender % Total % Count PRA % Gender % Total %
ASET 86 61.4% 21.9% 13.7% 54 38.6% 22.8% 8.6% 140
BS 68 60.7% 17.3% 10.8% 44 39.3% 18.6% 7.0% 112
HS 39 61.9% 9.9% 6.2% 24 38.1% 10.1% 3.8% 63
SS 200 63.5% 50.9% 31.7% 115 36.5% 48.5% 18.3% 315
Total 393 62.4% 100.0% 62.4% 237 37.6% 100.0% 37.6% 630

Summary statistics, proportions and one sample proportion test for individual factors_

Variable# Descriptive Summary Response Proportions Rank One sample Exact binomial test (n=630, One tailed successful proportion: π>.4)
Mean SD Median IQR EP Not significant Slightly significant Moderately significant Highly significant Extremely t significant Highly significant and above count (N) Clopper-Pearson CI (95%) p-Val Successful Probability p^\hat p Ho: π≤.4)
RI 1.85 0.82 2 1 36.98 38.57 41.59 16.35 3.33 0.16 29 22 .024 - 1 .999 .035 Accepted
R2 2.39 0.94 2 1 47.84 16.03 43.17 27.62 11.9 1.27 24 83 .110 - 1 .999 .132 Accepted
R3 1.95 0.89 2 1 38.92 34.92 42.54 16.19 5.71 0.63 28 40 .048 - 1 .999 .063 Accepted
R4 2.01 0.93 2 1.75 40.19 32.86 42.06 17.62 6.19 1.27 26 47 .058 - 1 .999 .075 Accepted
R5 2.40 1.00 2 1 48.06 17.30 42.38 26.03 11.27 3.02 23 90 .120 - 1 .999 .143 Accepted
Pl 2.01 0.86 2 1 40.19 30.16 44.92 18.89 5.87 0.16 27 38 .045 - 1 .999 .060 Accepted
P2 3.19 0.94 3 1 63.78 3.02 21.43 34.92 34.92 5.71 14 256 .374 - 1 .387 .406 Accepted
P3 2.55 0.90 3 1 51.05 10.95 38.89 35.08 14.13 0.95 21 95 .128 - 1 .999 .151 Accepted
P4 3.23 0.90 3 1 64.54 2.70 17.62 39.84 33.97 5.87 13 251 .366 - 1 .547 .398 Accepted
P5 2.93 0.96 3 2 58.54 6.03 28.1 36.51 25.87 3.49 18 185 .264 - 1 .999 .294 Accepted
RR1 3.68 0.94 4 1 73.56 3.33 6.67 25.56 47.78 16.67 8 406 .612 - 1 .000** .644 Rejected
RR2 3.90 0.88 4 2 77.97 1.11 4.92 22.7 45.56 25.71 3 449 .682 - 1 .000** .713 Rejected
RR3 2.69 1.25 3 3 53.78 26.67 12.22 33.33 21.11 6.67 19 175 .248 - 1 .999 .278 Accepted
RR4 3.50 0.92 4 1 69.94 1.59 12.86 31.9 41.59 12.06 11 338 .503 - 1 .000** .537 Rejected
RR5 2.13 0.88 2 2 42.57 25.24 44.29 23.33 6.67 0.48 25 45 .055 - 1 .999 .071 Accepted
RR6 2.60 0.93 3 1 52.10 10.32 38.25 33.97 15.56 1.9 20 110 .150 - 1 .999 .175 Accepted
RR7 3.80 0.96 4 1 75.97 2.22 7.78 21.43 45.08 23.49 4 432 .654 - 1 .000** .686 Rejected
RR8 3.69 1.10 4 1 73.78 5.56 8.89 21.11 40 24.44 6 406 .612 - 1 .000** .644 Rejected
I1 4.02 0.98 4 1 80.44 3.33 3.33 16.67 41.11 35.56 2 483 .737 - 1 .000** .767 Rejected
I2 4.09 0.87 4 1 81.71 0.48 4.29 18.25 40.16 36.83 1 485 .741 - 1 .000** .770 Rejected
I3 3.78 0.89 4 1 75.68 0.48 8.41 24.6 45.24 21.27 5 419 .633 - 1 .000** .665 Rejected
I4 3.69 0.90 4 1 73.75 0.95 9.21 27.62 44.6 17.62 7 392 .589 - 1 .000** .622 Rejected
I5 3.52 1.20 4 1 70.44 7.78 11.11 26.67 30 24.44 10 343 .511 - 1 .000** .544 Rejected
I6 3.54 0.96 4 1 70.89 3.02 10.79 29.05 43.02 14.13 9 360 .538 - 1 .000** .571 Rejected
N1 3.03 0.92 3 2 60.67 3.49 26.67 36.67 29.37 3.81 17 209 .301 - 1 .999 .332 Accepted
N2 2.41 0.91 2 1 48.25 14.13 44.13 29.21 11.43 1.11 22 79 .104 - 1 .999 .125 Accepted
N3 3.42 0.92 3 1 68.48 1.59 14.13 35.56 37.78 10.95 12 307 .454 - 1 .000** .487 Rejected
N4 3.05 0.90 3 2 61.05 2.22 26.83 38.89 27.62 4.44 16 202 .290 - 1 .999 .321 Accepted
N5 3.06 1.08 3 2 61.11 7.78 24.44 30 30 7.78 15 238 .346 - 1 .881 .378 Accepted
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