  Power dynamics influence every aspect of scientific collaboration. Team power
dynamics can be measured by team power level and team power hierarchy. Team
power level is conceptualized as the average level of the possession of
resources, expertise, or decision-making authorities of a team. Team power
hierarchy represents the vertical differences of the possessions of resources
in a team. In Science of Science, few studies have looked at scientific
collaboration from the perspective of team power dynamics. This research
examines how team power dynamics affect team impact to fill the research gap.
In this research, all co-authors of one publication are treated as one team.
Team power level and team power hierarchy of one team are measured by the mean
and Gini index of career age of co-authors in this team. Team impact is
quantified by citations of a paper authored by this team. By analyzing over 7.7
million teams from Science (e.g., Computer Science, Physics), Social Sciences
(e.g., Sociology, Library & Information Science), and Arts & Humanities (e.g.,
Art), we find that flat team structure is associated with higher team impact,
especially when teams have high team power level. These findings have been
repeated in all five disciplines except Art, and are consistent in various
types of teams from Computer Science including teams from industry or academia,
teams with different gender groups, teams with geographical contrast, and teams
with distinct size.
