| Title |
Experimental Study of Informal Rewards in Peer Production
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, March 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0034358 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Michael Restivo, Arnout van de Rijt |
| Abstract |
We test the effects of informal rewards in online peer production. Using a randomized, experimental design, we assigned editing awards or "barnstars" to a subset of the 1% most productive Wikipedia contributors. Comparison with the control group shows that receiving a barnstar increases productivity by 60% and makes contributors six times more likely to receive additional barnstars from other community members, revealing that informal rewards significantly impact individual effort. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 24 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4 | 17% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 13% |
| Denmark | 2 | 8% |
| India | 2 | 8% |
| Australia | 2 | 8% |
| France | 1 | 4% |
| Ireland | 1 | 4% |
| Norway | 1 | 4% |
| Italy | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 2 | 8% |
| Unknown | 5 | 21% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 18 | 75% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 13% |
| Scientists | 3 | 13% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 101 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 8 | 8% |
| Canada | 3 | 3% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| Poland | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 87 | 86% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 38 | 38% |
| Researcher | 15 | 15% |
| Student > Master | 11 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 9 | 9% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 6% |
| Other | 16 | 16% |
| Unknown | 6 | 6% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 34 | 34% |
| Computer Science | 18 | 18% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 13 | 13% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 5% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 4% |
| Other | 19 | 19% |
| Unknown | 8 | 8% |