Scientific knowledge contribution to online knowledge-sharing platforms has long been regarded as instrumental behavior based on utilitarian considerations. Employing cognitive evaluation theory, this study examines scientific expert users’ behavioral metrics to understand the factors responsible for users continuing to contribute their scientific knowledge for an extended period or a very short span. We found that expert users’ intrinsic motivations, which has received little attention in recent studies, constitute an important indicator of sustained online scientific knowledge contribution. Furthermore, although social rewards fail to predict the continuity of scientific knowledge contribution, they prolong the duration of knowledge contribution by enhancing the intrinsic motivations of expert users. In conclusion, a self-reinforcement mechanism underlies the relationship of intrinsic motivation with social rewards, which governs continuous online scientific knowledge contribution behavior.

长期以来，科学知识对在线知识共享平台的贡献一直被视为基于功利考虑的工具性行为。本研究采用认知评价理论，检验科学专家用户的行为指标，以了解导致用户在较长时期或很短的时间内继续贡献其科学知识的因素。我们发现，在最近的研究中很少受到关注的专家用户的内在动机构成了持续在线科学知识贡献的重要指标。此外，虽然社会奖励无法预测科学知识贡献的连续性，但它们通过增强专家用户的内在动机来延长知识贡献的持续时间。综上所述，