Innovation lineage structure: A graph structure in publications of scholars and its association with disruptiveness

Abstract

Numerous factors have been associated with disruptive research that dramatically drives scientific development. However, few studies have explored the issue from the perspective of the publication structures of scholars. To fill the gap, we identified a graph publication structure, termed innovation lineage structure, from 110,488,521 publications in the OpenAlex database authored by 1523,664 scholars who began their careers in 1980 or later. Using logistic regression models, we found that publications within these structures were more disruptive than those outside. This finding remained robust across different disruptiveness measures, scholars of various genders, and within the natural and engineering sciences. Informed by career stages and knowledge diversity, we observed that scholars adopted exploration research strategies for research within their innovation lineage structures, leading to more disruptive impacts. The proposed innovation lineage structures are associated with disruptiveness and offer insights for scholars seeking greater impact, highlighting that publications grounded in novel work and characterized by persistent innovation are more likely to be disruptive.