Academic inbreeding reduces the scientific performance of ecologists
Academic inbreeding, defined as recruiting professionals from the same institution where they obtained their doctoral degrees, is characterized by low academic mobility. These inbred researchers can have lower scientific performance than the more mobile ones due to limited exposure to novel approaches and potential collaborations outside of their home institution. Despite the potential negative impact on research careers, academic inbreeding has been documented in various scientific fields and is often perceived as normal practice in academic culture. In this study, we explored the impact of academic inbreeding on the scientific performance of ecologists. We conducted an online survey to gather information about their mobility, academic age, and publication output regardless of their nationality or institution. Our results show that inbred ecologists publish a deficient number of articles per year, have fewer first-author publications, and are less likely to publish articles with more than 15 authors compared to non-inbred researchers. Although homegrown early career ecologists tend to have more publications, this pattern changes in the senior career stages when non-inbred researchers perform significantly better than their inbred colleagues. These findings suggest that academic inbreeding can negatively impact research careers and scientific output. Raising awareness of this issue may help discourage this practice in academic culture and highlight the importance of mobility and building professional networks outside one’s home institution.