The global rise in academic authors reporting multiple institutional affiliations reflects the unanticipated influence of research assessment on academia.

Academics reporting to be simultaneously affiliated with multiple organisations is a growing global phenomenon with significant implications for the usefulness and accuracy of research evaluations. Reporting on findings from a new study, Hanna Hottenrott, Michael E. Rose and Cornelia Lawson find that much of the recent rise in multiple author affiliation can be linked to research assessment regimes introduced in the mid-2000s.They suggest this highlights a significant gap in our understanding of how research assessment regimes, both assess and construct academic practices.