Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the research environment and motivation of researchers in Japan

The environment surrounding researchers has changed significantly in the face of COVID-19 restrictions. An online self-reported questionnaire was completed by 10,557 participants between June 15–19, 2020. The impact on work/research activities and harassments under COVID-19 conditions were higher among researchers (1963) compared to non-researchers (8572). We further examined the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on 300 researchers. Women were significantly more likely to report being harassed than males; women were also more likely to show a reduction in their research motivation. The restrictions on research activities – due to COVID-19 restrictions – caused future anxiety and a decrease in research motivation.