Theory‐changing breakthroughs in science: The impact of research teamwork on scientific discoveries

We have developed and tested an evidence‐based method for early‐stage identification of scientific discoveries. Scholarly publications are analyzed to track and trace breakthrough processes as well as their impact on world science. The focus in this study is on the incremental discovery of the ubiquitin‐mediated proteolytic system in the late 1970s by a small international team of collaborating researchers. Analysis of their groundbreaking...