Exploring scientists’ working timetable: Do scientists often work overtime?

A novel method is proposed to monitor and record scientists’ working timetable. We record the downloads information of scientific papers real-timely from Springer round the clock, and try to explore scientists’ working habits. As our observation demonstrates, many scientists are still engaged in their research after working hours every day. Many of them work far into the night, even till next morning. In addition, research work also intrudes into their weekends. Different working time patterns are revealed. In the US, overnight work is more prevalent among scientists, while Chinese scientists mostly have busy weekends with their scientific research.

► A novel methodology is proposed to analyze scientists’ working timetable.
► Scientists are still engaged in their research after working hours.
► Scientists’ working time curves in different countries show different features.