Key topics

• The role of diversity, expertise, and collaboration in science.
• Dynamics of scientific innovation and paradigm shifts.
• AI’s influence on knowledge production and evaluation.

Example Projects

• Social complexity of open science.
• Scaling of innovations with urban population size.
• Aggregate effects of LLM contributions to scientific publishing.
• Dilution of expertise in digital knowledge systems.
• AI-driven shifts in scientific publishing and peer review.

Selected Publications

• Duran-Nebreda, S., Bentley, R. A., Valverde, S. (2022). Dilution of expertise in the rise and fall of collective innovation. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 9, 365.
• Wang, W., Liu, S., Zhang, W., He, J., Li, C. (2022). The social and cognitive origins of scientific knowledge. Journal of Informetrics, 16(3), 101286.
• He, J., Tian, X., Zhang, W., Wang, W. (2023). Mapping the structure and dynamics of scientific collaboration networks. Scientometrics, 128(5), 2871–2895.
• He, J., Zhang, W., Liu, S., Wang, W. (2024). AI and the changing dynamics of scientific peer review. Research Policy, 53(2), 104821.
• Valverde, S., Vidiella, B., et al. (2025). Structural changes in gene ontology reveal modular and complex representations of biological function. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 42(6), msaf148.

Image courtesy of Ben Horne

Research Themes