I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. I'm a sociologist exploring how social factors—such as status, culture, and institutions—influence scientific discovery ("science of science"). My guiding questions are What can organizations and policy-makers do to accelerate discovery? and Why do some ideas and people achieve impact while others don't?  I look for answers in four areas:

1. knowledge flows studies how scientists learn about new ideas

2. evaluation processes studies how ideas receive legitimacy and visibility

3. measuring innovation studies how the quality and impact of ideas can be defined and measured

4. AI and science studies the impact of AI and other technologies on science

Methodologically, I specialize in computational social science, particularly field experiments and various quantitative/computational tools, and emphasize causal inference. 

Previously, I was a Postdoc at Harvard Business School in the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH). I received my PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago, where I was a member of KnowledgeLab.

See my CV for papers and links. Here is my Google Scholar.

Here are some sample projects:

• Knowledge flows

  • The effect of conference presentations on diffusion of ideas (Arxiv)

  • Being together in place as a catalyst for scientific advance (Arxiv)

  • Gender differences in self-promotion in science (Arxiv)

• Measuring innovation

  • Citations are a biased measure of influence (Research Policy)

  • The effect of rhetorical citations on inequality in science (Arxiv)

• Evaluation processes

  • Is novel research worth doing? Evidence from peer review (PNAS)

  • Social influence among evaluators: negative information dominates (Management Science)

  • The effect of voluntary anonymization on prestige bias in evaluations (SSRN)

  • The effect of trainee career intentions on mentorship availability (SSRN)

• AI and science

  • The Effect of LLMs on Global Inequality in Science 

Lab: DiscoveryLab, www.discolab.org

Advising: currently not accepting PhD students

Office: North Quad #3369, 105 S State St

Twitter: @MishaTeplitskiy

Email: tepl @ umich . edu