Impact of early career medical research funding on subsequent publication outcomes and research income for female and male applicants in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Abstract The current debate in science funding of early-career researchers is shifting from exploring its effects on future outcomes to understanding who is more likely to benefit from it. In this paper, we explore the effect of research funding among male and female applicants. Using propensity score weighting on data from the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom, we examine the effect on research income, scientific productivity (publications), as well as scientific influence (citations, relative citation ratio, field citation ratio and Altmetrics score). Successful applicants in both groups secure more future research funding than unsuccessful ones. In addition, successful female applicants receive more citations and are better cited in their field than female applicants who did not receive funding. There is no statistically significant difference in scientific productivity or influence between successful and unsuccessful male applicants.