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Science’s ‘Gollum effect’: PhDs bear brunt of territorial behaviour

Survey respondents at all career stages report colleagues engaging in territorial and possessive behaviours — but early-career researchers are most often affected.
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  1. Julian Nowogrodzki

    1. Julian Nowogrodzki is a science writer and editor in Boston, Massachusetts.

Almost half of the scientists who responded to a survey have experienced territorial and undermining behaviours from other scientists — most commonly during their PhD studies1. Of those affected, nearly half said that the perpetrator was a high-profile researcher, and one-third said it was their own supervisor.

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Nature 641, 1082-1083 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01588-w

References

  1. Valdez, J. W., Sharma, S. & Gould, J. One Earth 8, 101314 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

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