{"doi":"10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009946","title":"Ten simple rules for using entrepreneurship skills to improve research careers and culture","abstract":"The academic path is not an easy one.The acknowledgment of the problems of the research precariat [1], the lack of stability and certainty in our careers, is not a new thing.The number of permanent positions in academic research has always limited the career prospects of many postdocs, but there are concerns the increasing supply of graduates is exacerbating this issue [2], and for scientists, job satisfaction is at an all-time low [3].Indeed, the current situation is forcing many of us to reevaluate our options [4].For many, this may mean leaving the academic world and moving to industry or enterprise, but this often can feel like failure [5].We argue that the establishment of a scientific career can be thought of as an entrepreneurial enterprise.We contend that an acknowledgment of this viewpoint and reevaluation of what constitutes value and impact in this system can contribute towards an improved research culture.With this in mind, we present some rules informed by the world of enterprise and business to help the early career researcher develop and navigate their careers.Entrepreneurship can be defined as tAU : PleasenotethatasperPLOSstyle; italicsshouldnotbeusedfore he means by which new organisations are formed with their resultant job and wealth creation [6].We can refocus this definition on the individual and define career entrepreneurship as the process of developing a career that results in increased value for the individual.Some common traits have been identified in entrepreneurship: risk taking, achievement, autonomy, self-efficacy (the ability to complete tasks), and locus of control (the control we believe we have on the outcomes of our lives [7]) [8], and these traits are also important markers and indicators for career progression in scientific research.Druker describes innovation as the ability to exploit change and argues that looking for change and exploiting it as an opportunity defines an entrepreneur [9].Change is a commodity that is not in short supply in the world of scientific research, with changing political and funding landscapes as well as new discoveries and knowledge.Through the definitions and perspectives offered above, we can prepare ourselves to be able to navigate and exploit changes for the benefit of our careers using traits and techniques also found in entrepreneurship and in innovators.","journal":"PLOS Computational Biology","year":2022,"id":6567,"datarank":0.16479184330021646,"base_score":1.0986122886681096,"endowment":1.0986122886681096,"self_citation_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.0384,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-04-08","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":60618,"name":"David Dent","orcid":"0000-0001-7521-9603","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":125,"name":"Philip  E. Bourne","orcid":"0000-0002-7618-7292","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":60617,"name":"Matt Bawn","orcid":"0000-0001-7245-4034","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":25,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-03-01T18:20:47.508186Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}