Plurality in multi-disciplinary research: multiple institutional affiliations are associated with increased citations

BACKGROUND: The institutional affiliations and associated collaborative networks that scientists foster during their research careers are salient in the production of high-quality science. The phenomenon of multiple institutional affiliations and its relationship to research output remains relatively unexplored in the literature. METHODS: We examined 27,612 scientific articles, modelling the normalized citation counts received against the number of authors and affiliations held. RESULTS: In agreement with previous research, we found that teamwork is an important factor in high impact papers, with average citations received increasing concordant with the number of co-authors listed. For articles with more than five co-authors, we noted an increase in average citations received when authors with more than one institutional affiliation contributed to the research. DISCUSSION: Multiple author affiliations may play a positive role in the production of high-impact science. This increased researcher mobility should be viewed by institutional boards as meritorious in the pursuit of scientific discovery.