Why are academics of science more productive than those of social science? Evidence from Indonesia

PurposeThis paper aims to examine factors influencing the productivity in research and publication between science and social science.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach with interviews for 40 academics in four public universities in Indonesia was applied to get an in-depth understanding of the issues.FindingsThe results of this study demonstrated that individual factors instead of institutional factors that contributed to the productivity of academics in science as compared to academics in social science.Originality/valueDespite there were influential effects of institutions in which the socializing process of internalizing the values, norms and scientific roles under the auspice of qualified supervisors or advisors, there seemed to be an individual capacity that comes in between. The implications of this study are discussed in the article.