Mobile young researchers and their non-mobile ‘twins’: who is winning the academic race?

This study focuses on the impact of international mobility of researchers on future scientific careers, particularly on their publication activity. We looked at young Russian researchers who returned to Russia after work, internship, or study abroad lasting more than 3 months. For this purpose, we used a combined database with biographical information (gathered from CVs) and publication activity indicators (data from Scopus). We also proposed method of matching pairs, rarely used in scientometrics. We compared mobile researchers with non-mobile counterparts who were close to them in terms of scientific field, age, and educational background. We revealed a positive relationship between international mobility and scientific productivity. Mobile researchers publish more scientific articles on average. They also publish more papers in higher-level journals and get more citations. We checked that these effects appeared after mobility but not from the beginning of the careers. The mobility effects, however, are not homogeneous, they vary significantly across disciplines, and in the timing, duration, and destination of mobility.