I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and the head of DiscoveryLab. My research explores how institutions and policies affect innovation, especially scientific research. The goal is to answer What can policy-makers and organizational leaders do to accelerate discovery? and What social factors make certain ideas and researchers impactful and others not? I look for answers in how organizations assess scientific ideas (identifying hidden biases in such assessments), the roles of culture and incentives, and the role of face-to-face interaction in idea diffusion.

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.

 My work has three main streams:

1. Knowledge flows studies how scientists learn about new ideas

• 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)

2. Evaluation processes studies how ideas receive legitimacy and visibility

• 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)

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

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

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

An additional stream on AI and science studies the impact of AI and other technologies on 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